Morgan Ace Attorney
by TheLittleDarkLord
Summary: Scandal in Ylisse! Lucina has been accused of homicide and is going to be put on trial! With Robin away on vacations, who can save the princess? The awesome Morgan, of course! But being the princess's attorney won't be an easy task! Hidden truths will force Morgan to face not only a mysterious enemy, but her friends as well, leading to a scandal like never seen before!
1. The Princess of the Ylisseans

_Before anything else, I would like to say that this story is my first fanfiction ever and I am new to the site, so I am not sure if I broke any rule (despite having read the politics) or just had a bad performance writing, but that's why your opinions and critics are more than welcome!_

 _Also, English is not my first language, so I would like to apologize in advance for any grammar errors I may have done. If you notice anything, let me know._

 _As a last warning, this story is a crazy parody I imagined a few days ago, so don't mind if there is too much stupidity or characters behaving differently than they do in the game._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Fire Emblem and its characters belong to Nintendo. Any other character or franchise mentioned belongs to its respective creators. The only thing I own is this (crappy) story._

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 1: The Princess of the Ylisseans**

"I put the cheese in here… And the lettuce in here… And the other bread in here… And... Voila!"

After six extremely methodic minutes (more or less), Morgan had finally finished her greatest creation: the most perfect and symmetric bear meat sandwich! It took more than nine tries to reach perfection, but that was worth the effort! It was so beautiful she nearly lost the will to eat it. Nearly.

Getting a glass of orange juice and her perfect sandwich, she sat at the table and prepared to enjoy her lunch when…

"ROBIN!" yelled a tall, strong, blue haired man opening the door with all force and looking very concerned.

"Huh?" Morgan noticed the person entering her house without even asking for and held her sandwich defensively.

"My sandwich!"

"I don't want your sandwich! I want your father!" the man yelled, darting his eyes everywhere like looking for something or someone.

"Father is out." She answered bluntly, taking a chunk of her lunch.

"And when is he coming back?!"

"Next month."

"NEXT MONTH?!" He asked incredulously "WHY?!"

Morgan stared at the man like he just made an obvious question.

"Have you forgotten?" She asked, taking another bite of the sandwich "You said father was working too much, so you gave him vacations. He and mother decided to use that time to go on honeymoon since they couldn't when they married because of the war. They went to the Outrealms and aren't coming back until next month."

The man facepalmed. How could he forget that? He did it the day before!

"Why do you ask, Chrom?"

The man, whose name now we know is Chrom, sighed trying to suppress his disappointment and simply said:

"Lucina was arrested."

Morgan spat everything in her mouth because of the shock, accidentally covering Chrom with pieces of chewed bear meat, bread and orange juice. She coughed a few times before looking incredulously at the man, apparently not noticing the mess she just made.

"Arrested? LUCINA?! Like, arrested?! Put in jail?! To rot with the rats?! Like a criminal?!"

Chrom just nodded, cleaning some of the food in his hair.

"That's why I need your father."

"But what can father do about that?" Morgan asked.

"She's going to be put on trial tomorrow." He cleaned a few more bits of food from his face "I know Robin in no attorney or something like that, but he knows diplomacy and is very good at analyzing information."

"Well… Since this is an emergency…" The girl stated, before taking a weird, flat object from her pocket. She taped it a few times and placed the object near her left ear.

Chrom looked a bit confused at the object, wondering what it was and why Morgan was holding it near her ear. She noticed he staring amused at her and, like she could read his mind, explained:

"It's a smartphone."

Chrom looked even more confused.

"It's a thing to talk with people that are very far away, play games, search things on internet…"

He looked even more confused than before.

"How can you don't know? Everyone in the Outrealms has one."

"We are not in the Outrealms…" He said dryly.

Morgan raised a finger to him asking for a moment of silence.

"Hello? Father? It's me, Morgan!" The girl said happily. Chrom kept staring confused at her.

"Yes, I'm fine. And you? Mother too? Good to know! And the vacations? Are you enjoying them? Great!"

Chrom waited.

"Really? Amazing! Did you take photos? Great! Send me them!"

Chrom crossed his arms.

"Did you get one for me? Aw, why not? Ecological disaster? Come on, father! It's just a giant poisonous bird that can spit fire! What could go wrong?"

Chrom began tapping his foot.

"Did you get any souvenirs? A what? Fatalis Armor? What's that?"

"Morgan…"

"No! She didn't! Really?! Wow! I would never imagine that!"

"Morgan…"

"Oh! Have I told you that I made the most perfect bear meat sandwich today?"

"MORGAN!"

"What?! Can't you see I'm on the phone?!" Morgan complained covering the lower part of the smartphone with her hand.

"LUCINA!" Chrom yelled angrily.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Morgan took her hand out of the phone and continued.

"Father, I know you and mother are having a great time, and I'm very sorry for asking this, but could you come back? Like right now?"

Morgan remained silent for a few seconds. Chrom wondered what Robin was saying on the other side.

"Well, it's a bit urgent, you know? It's that… Huh…" Morgan tried to find the right words to use, but as she failed to do so she simply said:

"She was arrested."

A weird sound came from the phone, getting Chrom by surprise and startling him a bit.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Father spat whatever he was drinking."

A few more seconds of silence and Morgan continued.

"I know. I couldn't believe it myself!" A bit more of silence "Why? It's because…"

She covered the phone again and turned to Chrom.

"Why was she arrested?"

"They're saying she killed a merchant."

"She killed a merchant."

The weird sound was heard again.

"I know you aren't a lawyer, but Chrom's really desperate." More seconds of silence "Trust me, mother will understand."

She rubbed the back of her head a few times.

"Okay, she'll spank you and put you to sleep on the couch for a few days, but she'll forgive you! It's for a noble cause!"

She remained silent for a few more moments, then smiled widely.

"Excellent! I'll tell Chrom! He's going to be so happy! Okay then! See you tomorrow! Bye!"

She tapped the phone again and pocketed it. She turned to Chrom and smiled.

"Father said he'll be here tomorrow morning!"

The man relaxed. Despite the odds, everything seemed to be going alright.

"Good. When he gets here, tell him to go to the Ylissean Court at two in the afternoon. Now I must go back home. I need to see how Lucina's faring. She was very scared and worried."

Morgan gave him a thumb up and winked an eye. Chrom turned around and left to his home. He was feeling very confident that everything would go smoothly now that Robin was coming.

Ah, if he just knew what was about to happen…

 **Ylissean Court, 01:47 PM**

" _Where the hell is he?!"_ Chrom thought worried. The trial would begin in thirteen minutes and Robin was nowhere to be seen.

Most of the Shepherds were there to give the princess support in that hard moment, and man, she needed support. The usually calm and stoic Lucina looked very shaken and not even her mother and sister could make her calm down. She kept staring at her feet, shaking her legs nervously and tapping her fingers on the chair she was sitting. Her equally nervous father kept looking everywhere for the Grandmaster.

They faced Grima and countless Risen before, but that problem wasn't one that could be solved just swinging Falchion around. The courts of Ylisse were famous for being merciless battlegrounds of attorneys and prosecutors, where anything could happen, even a princess being arrested for the rest of her life for a crime she was sure she didn't commit. That became even worse since Robin and Maribelle updated the Ylissean Law Code, making it even more rigid and limiting the power of… Well, everyone.

"Calm down, dear." Sumia rubbed her daughter's shoulder "Everything will be okay. Robin's coming."

"Yes! Trust me, Lucy! He would never let a hero like rot in jail with all those bandits!" Cynthia tried to cheer her.

Lucina gave a weak smile to her family. She was still worried, but at least she had them to help her.

A soldier approached Frederick, who was just a few steps away from the royal family, and whispered something in his ear. He flinched for a moment and asked if whatever he heard was serious. The soldier just shook his head positively. The tall man looked worried for a moment, then dismissed the soldier. He walked to Chrom's side and spoke what he was told.

"Milord, one of our men has just told me that the person responsible for miss Lucina's defense has arrived."

Chrom looked at Frederick and gave him a relieved smile.

"Thank the gods… For a moment, I thought we were troubled."

"Uh… But there's something you should know, milord…" Frederick added a bit nervous.

Before he could say anything else, a girl wearing a Grandmaster coat and holding two big books that had "Ylissean Law" and "Playing with the Demon" on their covers entered the room, making a lot of noise.

"Worry not, ladies and gentlemen! Morgan is here!"

Everyone was unable to believe what they were seeing. Morgan proudly marched towards Lucina, stopped in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Keep calm and trust me! Your ace attorney has arrived!" She gave the princess a thumb up. Lucina could just stare incredulous.

"Morgan, what's the meaning of this?!" Chrom asked still trying to process the entire situation "Where's your father?!"

"What do you mean with 'where's your father'? I texted you yesterday!"

"Texted?" He asked.

"Oh, yes… You're an ancient and don't have a smartphone." Morgan sighed.

"First, I'm not an ancient. I'm twenty-two. Second, why should I have a smart-thingamajig?"

"Because it's stupidly useful!" Morgan stated.

"And who else here has one besides you?"

Noire, Severa, Owain, Brady and Cynthia avoided eye contact.

"Hold on…" Morgan mused "If you don't have a smartphone, who received the message I sent you?"

 **Meanwhile…**

"Corrin, what are you looking there?" a light blue haired girl asked to a white-haired boy who was looking at his phone.

"Morgan sent me this message, but I don't get what she meant." He told the girl showing her the message.

She looked at it and couldn't understand as well.

"She probably sent to the wrong number." He dismissed "I'll text her back later. Now, where were we?"

 **Back at Ylisse…**

"Ah, doesn't matter. I'll discover sooner or later." Morgan shook a hand and proceeded to explain.

"A few hours after you came home, father called me back and said he wouldn't come anymore."

Everyone looked shocked at Morgan. Robin abandoned Lucina in the moment she most needed him? If they weren't hearing that themselves, they would never believe it.

Chrom felt a mix of emotions: pain, betrayal, confusion and a LOT of anger. Sumia and Cynthia looked worried at each other and Lucina began panicking inwardly.

"Before you jump to conclusions…" Morgan interrupted everyone's thoughts "It's not that he didn't want to come, it's that he COULDN'T come at all."

Everyone's frustration and anger turned into confusion.

"He couldn't? How comes?" Lissa asked the question all the others wanted to make.

"The Ourtrealm Gate of the place father and mother are now is located in an island very far away from their current location. A bit before dinner, the authorities announced that a big storm was going to that island. The only way to get to there is by boat or airplane, but both cannot be used under bad weather conditions."

"Airplane?" Chrom asked.

"It's like a wyvern, but bigger, made of steel, doesn't breathe fire and is not alive." Morgan explained.

"Fascinating." Miriel scribbled something in her notes.

"So, until the storm subsidies, they can't come back." Morgan finished.

For a moment, Chrom thought about giving up on making the question that came to his mind fearing to hear the answer, but it was too important to simply ignore so he had to gather the courage to mutter it.

"And…" He made a pause and took a deep breath "When the storm will subside?"

"That's the critical part. Please, stay calm and don't freak out." Hearing that made a chill run down his spine "Father said the authorities aren't sure, but it's very likely that it'll only happen next week."

"NEXT WEEK?! NEXT WEEK?!" Chrom yelled desperate.

"Hey! I said not to freak out!"

"HOW CAN I NOT FREAK OUT?! BY THEN IT'LL BE TOO LATE! THE TRIAL IS TODAY!"

A wave of despair fell over the Shepherds. Without Robin, Lucina had no defense, which meant she was very likely to be put behind the bars. A general commotion began, with a lot of voices speaking at the same time.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Calm down, everyone!" Morgan yelled "Have you forgotten what I said just a few moments ago? Father isn't here, but I am! And I am going to be Lucina's defense!"

The mix of noises suddenly became a morbid silence. What did she say?

"Wait… Can you do that?" Frederick asked.

"Of course I can!" Morgan proudly answered "You probably don't know, but father made me his official proxy!"

"Proxy? What's that?" Cynthia asked.

"It's like a representative." Frederick answered for Morgan "That means whenever Robin's unavailable for something, no matter the nature of the case or the reason he can't attend, Morgan can take his place and officially represent him in any place of Ylisse without the need of a previous notification and enjoying all his rights as Grandmaster."

"But the Grandmaster's proxy is a post that can only be designated by the Grandmaster himself and must be recognized by the Ylissean Court!" Maribelle shot at them "I don't recall Robin ever doing…"

Before she could finish, Morgan opened the "Playing with the Demon" book and took a piece of paper out of it. It was a document with the Ylissean Court seal and the signatures of three judges and Robin stating:

"I, Robin, Grandmaster of Ylisse, head strategist, economics analysis chief, head of the Ylissean Special Operations Guard and the Exalt's representative, officially grant the post of Grandmaster's Proxy to Morgan. For this specific case, I also grant her the right to demand reevaluation and revocation of any law or order made by me and free access to the Ylissean Secret Archives. Through this document, I also extend her rights as my proxy by allowing her to represent me in any place outside of the Ylissean boundaries."

Maribelle gulped and felt a drop of cold drool running down her face. Not only Robin did make her his proxy, but he made her the most powerful one in the history of the Halidom. Just the thought of Morgan having so much power in her hands was terrifying.

"B-but…" Chrom stuttered.

Before he could finish, the sound of a bell echoed through the room.

"Oh! The trial is beginning!" Morgan said enthusiastically, grabbing Lucina by the hand and dragging her to the court "Come on, baby! It's time to kick asses!"

"Morgan! You don't need to pull me!" Lucina complained, trying to keep up with her 'attorney'.

Although everyone was still having a hard time to digest the wave of information they just received, little by little the Shepherds began to follow the two girls and enter the court room. Cynthia was the first member of the royal family to go after her sister, Sumia going a bit after. Chrom, on other hand, remained completely still, unable to believe what he just heard.

Frederick and Maribelle noticed his nervousness and stayed behind with him. When everyone else left the hall, Chrom finally spoke what he wanted:

"Frederick, Maribelle… Please, tell me this is all a dream…"

Both sighed.

"I don't think so, milord." Frederick answered.

"Maribelle, there's no way to change that? Maybe put you in Robin's place?"

"Unfortunately, it's too late for that, milord." Maribelle just stated "Robin was assigned as Lucina's defense yesterday and you have to change it at least one day before the trial. Besides, the document Morgan showed us is official and her post as her father's representative can't be denied by anyone. The only person who could do that would be the Grandmaster himself or the entire Ylissean Court. Years before, as the Exalt, you could make it yourself, but due to the…" She coughed and blushed slightly "Improved law code Robin and I made…"

Chrom felt an urge to cry.

"Maybe we should give Morgan a chance, milord." Frederick said "I won't lie, it's a bit worrying that she's going to be Lucina's defense because of her… Peculiarities… But Robin would never give a post so important and powerful to someone unable to take the responsibility."

"She's his daughter…" Chrom said dryly.

"That surely helped…" Maribelle added "But Frederick's right. Robin wouldn't make Morgan his Proxy and give her so much power if she wasn't ready for such a thing. Aversa asked him to make her the new commandant of the Pegasus Knights unit, but he refused."

"He made her captain…" Chrom shot back "And she's his wife."

"We understand your worry, sir, but it's still early to give up on hope." Frederick said, putting a reassuring hand on the Exalt's shoulder "Now, we must go. The trial is about to begin."

 **A few moments later…**

The imposing chair that stood above all others in the room was still empty. The judge hadn't arrived yet, but the air was already tense. In front of the judge's chair, two tall and strong guards kept their emotionless eyes on the people present. In the defense's table, in the left side of the room, Lucina looked nervously everywhere, clearly unsure how to act in that situation, while Morgan was having some difficulty organizing the papers she got from the Ylissean Archives last night to use in the trial. Cynthia decided to sit at her sister's side to give her some comfort. Chrom, Sumia and the rest of the Shepherds present were right behind them.

On the prosecution table, in the opposite side, a boy slightly taller than Lucina was so busy organizing his own papers he didn't notice the princess and her attorney arriving. His hair was a deep red, even some tones stronger than Cordelia's, groomed to make him look as much professional as possible, the only defect being some bangs over his left eye. He wore a coat like a Sage's one, with a white shirt and black pants underneath. His deep black eyes kept analyzing his documents like nothing else in the world existed.

Although it took her some time, Maribelle eventually recognized the boy and felt a chill running down her spine. She changed her seat for one nearer Chrom and Sumia, poked them on the shoulder and whispered:

"I don't want to make you two more worried than you already are, but…" She pointed to the boy, the royal couple following her finger.

"That boy in the prosecution's table… His name is Seiji. Seiji Kanto. His father is a respected prosecutor from Chon'Sin that recently moved to Ylisse. He followed his father's steps and became one of the best prosecutors in the Halidom."

Chrom and Sumia looked at the boy, unable to believe. He looked so young! He probably wasn't more than two years older than Morgan!

"He is considered a beast in the court. Seiji defeated even some of the best attorneys we have and currently holds the record of consecutive trials won."

"And that record would be?" Sumia asked, a bit worried.

Maribelle sighed.

"Thirty-six."

Chrom and Sumia exchanged worried looks. The opposition was strong. Very strong.

"Finally!" Morgan celebrated "Now that my documents are organized, we can start this trial!"

"How can you be so upbeat even in a moment like this?" Lucina asked with a low voice "If I had just a bit of that optimism…"

"Ah, chill down, Lucy!" Morgan said giving the princess a confident smile "Being nervous never helped anyone! Besides, you have me!"

"Do you have any experience with courts or trials?" Lucina asked.

"No, but who needs experience when you have all this deliciousness?" Said the young Proxy, making a model pose.

Everyone in the front row that heard that stared incredulously at Morgan. The only exception was Inigo, who was desperately trying to hide his bleeding nose.

"You're kidding… Right?" Lucina asked nervously.

"Of course I'm joking!" Morgan reassured "I mean, there's no doubt I'm delicious…" She made another pose, causing another eruption in Inigo's nose "But that won't solve all problems in the world. It's like father once taught me: your arsenal is all you need, and yet never enough."

"Wow! Sounds like a hero lemma!" Cynthia commented "Uh… And that means…?"

"That you always should use the most of your skills, but never try to do more than you can. That's why we improve ourselves! To expand our…"

"Morgan?! Is that you?!" Suddenly spoke a fourth, masculine voice coming from somewhere to their right, interrupting Morgan.

The two princesses looked over Morgan's shoulder to see who spoke, while the girl turned around to see…

"What the… Seiji?! Is that really you?!" She said unable to believe in her own eyes.

While the two exchanged blank looks, Lucina, Cynthia and their parents kept changing their focus between their attorney and the prosecutor. Apparently, the two knew each other, which was quite a surprise.

"What are you doing here?!" Morgan asked.

"That's what I should be asking." Seiji retorted "Since when are you a lawyer?"

"Like you said: that's what I should be asking." Morgan shot back.

"I'm here representing my family's name."

Morgan giggled.

"Oh! So, you decided to become a prosecutor like your daddy? That's great! After all, that would be easy with the help he would give you."

"Said the Proxy who's the Grandmaster's daughter." Seiji retaliated with a smirk.

"I got my post thanks to my awesome skills! And you?"

"Thanks to my flawless intellect, of course!"

Morgan giggled even more.

"Flawless? I would say flawed!"

"If you consider my intellect flawed, then I can say that YOUR intellect is the flawed one."

"Oh, really?" She gave him a challenging smile "Do you remember the tests we made at the Plegian Royal Academy? Who got eight perfect scores out of ten and two ninety-eight while your best note was a measly ninety-six?"

"Ninety-six is a measly result?!" Sumia whispered to Chrom "At which academics level they are at?!"

Seiji shook his head and laughed lowly.

"Results in tests mean nothing in the real world."

"I know, that's why I became Proxy." Morgan added proudly "By the way, I haven't answered your question yet. I am here because my father was designated as Lucina's attorney, but couldn't come."

"You? Her attorney?" Seiji laughed "She's condemned."

"We'll see, pretty boy. We'll see." Morgan challenged.

With nothing else to say, Seiji returned to his papers, a mocking smile in his face. Morgan did the same, trying to hide a giggle.

"Morgan…" Lucina began "Do you know that boy?"

"Yes. I do."

"But… How…?" The princess tried to find the words.

"Long story, Lucy. Looooooong story. I'll tell you later."

"Everyone stand up! The judge arrived!" One of the guards announced.

All people present stood up. The judge entered by a lateral door to the right of his chair. He was a tall, slender man with a long white beard. His wrinkled face had an air of wisdom and his round glasses helped his now poor sight. He wore the traditional vests of Ylisse's judges, a long, black tunic with the Ylissean Court seal stamped on the back. He calmly walked to his chair, took his place and gave everyone an emotionless look.

"Very well. You can sit now." He stated with his deep and monotone voice.

Everyone sat back on their seats. The judge got his own papers and began organizing them, preparing for the trial. Morgan and Seiji took that time to finish their own papers. While they were at it, Maribelle quickly passed a folder to Chrom. The Exalt thanked her and poked Morgan's shoulder, making her turn around.

"This folder has some material Maribelle gathered for the case." He passed the folder to Morgan "I believe it'll be useful."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Chrom!" Morgan stated.

That surely was useful! More data to use! With so many resources at her disposal and an incompetent like Seiji as her rival, that case would be easy!

Easy, although…

"Hey! Hold on!" Morgan turned around to face the Exalt again "If Maribelle had all this information to use in the case, why did you…"

Before Morgan could finish her sentence, the judge began the trial.

"Very well. Court is now in session!" He announced.

The Proxy growled lowly. Something about Maribelle having evidence for the case and Chrom asking for Robin to be the attorney instead seemed off. That rose many questions, but she would have to wait to make them. It wasn't the time for that.

The trial was about to begin. Lucina's future depended on her and that was everything she should worry about.

The show had started.

 **To be continued…**

 _What will happen next? What secrets that will be revealed? Will Lucina be arrested? What is the truth behind all this? Will Morgan succeed or Seiji will put the princess behind the bars? Why am I making so many questions only I know the answers?_

 _Except for the last one, all of them will be answered in the next chapters!_

 _If you kept reading until now, I want to thank you for keeping up with this mad idea I had. Don't forget to comment and give your opinions about this story. By the way, I'm not a very good writer, so I can't promise a complex plot full of surprises and mysteries like the Ace Attorney series I based it on, but I'll try my best!_

 _Also, I would like to comment that, although I had a lot of fun writing this, I am not fully satisfied with the result. This was originally going to be a one shot, but it would become a very long one, so I decided to split it in chapters and, because of that, I may have exaggerated a bit and put too much irrelevant information and/or dialogues to complement it, so from now on I'll try to make them more compact._

 _I hope you liked to read it as much as I liked to write it. See you in the next chapter!_


	2. About Princesses, Wyverns and FF(?)

_Wow, eight followers, two favorites and two reviews in just one week? That's much more than I expected for my story. Seems like I didn't make such a bad job after all! XD_

 _Thank you for giving me all this support! Just knowing you liked the story motivates me to keep on!_

 _And a special thanks to Has and Forgotten Tyrant for reviewing the story! I would like to comment your reviews and make some author notes, but I have so much to say and this is going to be a looooooong chapter, so I will do it after the ending to not take too much of your time._

 _Oh, and before the story begins…_

 _ **Important announcement**_ _: I don't own Fire Emblem or any other franchise/characters mentioned in this story and don't claim to, so please, don't sue me!_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 2: About Princesses, Wyverns and Frontal Femininity**

"Very well. Court is now in session!" The judge announced.

Morgan growled in frustration. She wanted answers, but that would have to wait no matter how much it annoyed her.

Ignoring her urge to inquire Chrom, she put the folder he gave her under the rest of her papers and turned around to face the judge.

"The prosecution and the defense present themselves." The elderly man ordered.

Seiji was the first to get up and do the introductions.

"Seiji Kanto, from Chon'Sin, heir of house Kanto and prosecutor of this case, representing my father, prosecutor Lee, who couldn't attend this occasion."

Morgan rolled her eyes. The boy was so full of himself, claiming to be better and flawless, but was in a similar situation to hers. In another occasion, she would mock or make a comment, but since that wasn't the place nor the time, all she did was get up and make her presentation.

"Morgan, official Proxy of Ylisse's Grandmaster and the defendant's attorney, representing my father, Grandmaster Robin, originally designated for the post, who couldn't attend this occasion."

The judge nodded.

"It's good to see you two."

Chrom and Sumia exchanged a look. Not only did Morgan and Seiji know each other, but they knew the judge as well? That could be very good or VERY bad.

"The prosecution can read the accusations." The judge announced to Seiji, who nodded back, got up and began reading a piece of paper he took from his pile of documents.

"The defendant, princess Lucina, a distant relative of Exalt Chrom, is being accused of homicide. The victim: Nikolai Loss, a merchant from Ylisstol. The merchant's body was found in the Ever Woods, near the capital, with many wounds made by a sword's blade and a cut in his head. The defendant was found lying unconscious near the body, with a wound made by the hilt of a sword that matches the merchant's. Witnesses affirm to have seen someone whose height and clothing match the defendant's entering the Ever Woods less than one hour before the incident."

While Seiji read the accusation, Morgan quickly searched in her papers and the folder Chrom gave her for any mention to said witnesses. The documents she got from the Ylissean Archive had a few names, but only from people she didn't know, so she left them to the side and opened the folder. To her surprise, the first paper wasn't a document or report, but a blank page with a horrible handwriting saying:

"Have to speak with you. Something's wrong. Wait for my message."

More questions came to Morgan's mind. First, the issue with Chrom. Now, that weird message from an unknown person. Whoever wrote that was desperate or worried enough to put such a thing in the middle of Maribelle's documents, but for what reason? Even more intriguing: how whoever did it managed to go unnoticed by the Valkyrie?

Even MORE intriguing: how could someone have such a horrible handwriting? It looked like a mentally damaged person put a pen in their butt and scribbled with it!

Ignoring the message, Morgan proceeded to look the other papers… And had another surprise. Per a report, there were many witnesses that saw someone entering the woods, but two in special had a bigger part in the entire act, one being who called the guards to check whatever was happening there and the other who got to the crime site first. Two very familiar names not only to Morgan, but to Lucina as well.

" _Gerome and Cynthia?"_

"Thank you, Mr. Seiji. The defense has anything to say?" The judge asked.

Morgan was so distracted by her own thoughts she only noticed Seiji had finished to read the accusations when the judge spoke.

"Huh? No, not yet." Sincerer than that was impossible; she didn't hear most of what Seiji said so how was she supposed to say anything?

"Very well." The judge nodded "Since the defense gave up on the right to make any initial objections, the attorney can call its witness first."

Accidentally, Morgan gained an upper hand on Seiji, who growled lowly. The boy expected his rival to make the first move and grant him the right to choose its witness first, but she apparently fooled him. Chrom, seeing that, felt a bit more at ease. Maybe having Morgan as Lucina's attorney wouldn't be so bad.

Or at least, he thought that until a bit later.

Accident or not, she wouldn't let that chance escape. Calling Gerome or Cynthia was an obvious choice because of the report, but there was someone else whose version was probably the most important of all.

"The defense calls…" Dramatic pause "The defendant, Lucina, to the witness seat!"

"Huh? Me?" Lucina asked confused.

" _Her client?"_ Seiji thought just as confused as Lucina _"What is that girl trying to do?"_

"As you wish." Affirmed the judge "The defendant, please, take your place at the witness seat."

Lucina obeyed and took the chair in the middle of the room. Seiji cleared his throat and Morgan snapped her fingers. It was time for the show to begin.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Both attorney and prosecutor said in unison.

" _What the hell was that?"_ Chrom facepalmed.

 **Defendant's Testimony**

"Ok, Lucy… I mean, Lucina." Morgan quickly corrected herself "Tell us what happened in the night of the crime."

"As you wish." The princess simply stated and began her narrative:

"Earlier that day, I was training in the castle yards when I heard a child calling for help."

"Lucina, I asked for the NIGHT OF THE CRIME. You don't have to tell your whole day. It'll save a lot of time."

"Do you want to hear my testimony or not?" The princess complained.

"Ok, ok. Ah… Fine, continue…"

"I heard a child calling for help. It was a little girl and her stuffed bear fell in the castle's well. I got the bear back to her and, as thanks, she invited me to her village's festival."

"Do we really need invitations for festivals?" Morgan asked.

"No, but inviting to a festival is a cheap way to thank someone without having to do anything." Seiji answered.

"Oh…"

"It would start at eight in the evening. At seven fifty-three, I left the castle and went straight to the village. I met the little girl there, she showed me some food and game stalls, then left to look for her mother. It was a cold night, so I wore a hoody I bought some days ago."

"An ugly one, by the way…"

"After a few minutes, I heard some people talking about sightings of a wolf near the village. With so many children and elderly people around, a wolf was extremely dangerous, so I decided to go check it myself. I entered the Ever Woods and walked for a few minutes until I heard glass breaking, a maniacal laugh and something running. I looked for the sound, but couldn't find anything. Later, I also heard something cutting trees not too far away, and went to check it. When I arrived at the place the sounds came from, I noticed many cuts in the trees and leaves scattered everywhere, but didn't find anything again. Suddenly, I felt something hitting the back of my head and I fainted."

"Ooooohhh…. Very scary…"

"Morgan, shut up."

"I woke up with Cynthia calling my name. I was covered in blood, there were guards everywhere and… The merchant's body…"

Lucina paused to take a deep breath.

"That's all I remember. After that, I was accused of murdering that man and the rest you know."

The judge nodded.

"Very well. Since the defendant finished her testimony, I believe it's time for the questioning. Ms. Morgan, the testimony belongs to your client, so you can begin."

"Thank you, Your Honor." Morgan nodded.

 **Direct Examination**

"So, Lucina… Exactly at which time did you arrive at the village?" Morgan asked rubbing her chin.

"At five past eight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. When I arrived, I saw the village's clock tower." The princess affirmed.

"You also stated that, inside the Ever Woods, you heard something cutting the trees and when you arrived at the place there were several cuts on them. The cuts seemed to be of what? A sword? An axe?"

"To be honest…" The princess said a bit insecure "I am not sure of what could have done those cuts. They didn't seem like any weapon I know, but were a bit familiar as well. If I had to guess, I would say it was a sword."

"So… Before you even arrived, the damage had already been done?"

"Yes."

"HOLD IT!" Seiji suddenly exclaimed "You're stating that the crime scene was the way the guards found it before you got there?"

"Yes." Lucina confirmed.

"If that's the case…" Dramatic pause "Why some cuts in the trees match with your sword's blade?!"

"WHAT?!" Lucina exclaimed incredulous.

"That's right." Seiji got some of his papers and read them "Per analysis of the cuts, some of them match with your sword. The others match with Nikolai's blade. For me, it looks like a fight happened."

"B-but I was attacked! I fainted! I never had the time to fight back!"

"That's exactly what you would say to get rid of this situation." Seiji taunted "Pretending to be a victim, so the victim would become the culprit. Typical."

"OBJECTION!" Morgan yelled "He has no substantial proof to validate that theory!"

"Actually, I have. The cuts, the matching blades, your client covered in blood, her sword also covered in blood… Not to mention that the only wound she had was the one on the back of her head, while the victim had multiple cuts on his whole body." The prosecutor stated with a smug smile.

Morgan buffed. He indeed had evidences to support his theory.

" _I have to change the subject."_ She thought.

"If I remember well, you also said something about rumors of a wolf near the village?"

"Y-yes…" Lucina said weakly. The sudden revelation Seiji made clearly shook her nerves.

"That's the reason you entered the woods, right?"

"Yes…"

"HOLD IT!" Seiji interrupted once again "I questioned the guards about those rumors and they confirmed that there was NO EVIDENCE OF WOLVES OR ANY OTHER BIG ANIMAL NEAR THE VILLAGE. No paw marks, no waste products or anything else"

Another sudden revelation. The entire court room began speaking. Morgan felt a drop of sweat running down her face. She thought it would be easy to win the case, but clearly underestimated Seiji and his skills, a mistake that was costing her time and giving him more evidences to accuse Lucina.

Speaking of the princess, she became even more shaken after hearing the prosecutor. Why was that happening? She never did anything wrong, but the whole world seemed to be against her.

"Order in the court!" The judge ordered, hammering his table.

When everyone calmed down, he proceeded:

"The defense has something else to ask?"

Morgan sighed. Her plan backfired and Lucina's testimony was making everything worse. How was she supposed to help her if she didn't help herself?! So, before things got out of control, she decided to stop.

"No, the defense has nothing else to ask."

"Very well." The judge nodded "Since the defense has nothing else to say, the prosecution can begin the questioning."

"The prosecution will gladly begin its questioning, Your Honor." Seiji stated, smiling confidently and giving Morgan a mocking look.

 **Cross-Examination**

"I already have most of the information I wanted, but there's one last piece I need for my theory." The way Seiji stared at Lucina made the princess feel unease.

"You were wearing a hoody in that night, right?"

"Yes…"

"So was the person seen entering the woods. I think you know what that means, don't you?" He smiled menacingly at her.

"OBJECTION!" Morgan yelled "Just because she and said person were wearing the same thing doesn't mean they're the same! There's a wide pool of people who can match my client's height! Considering we are talking about Lucina, it could even be a man!"

"Wha… What is that supposed to mean?!" The princess asked indignant.

Morgan took a deep breath; that was a delicate subject and she had to choose her words carefully.

"Lucy, no offense, but if we look at you from a certain distance and at a certain angle you DO look like a guy."

"WHAT?!" The princess yelled even more indignant "What are you talking about?!"

"I mean, if we are close to you, it's obvious you're a girl! But from a distance it becomes tricky to distinguish because you lack…" Morgan stopped, unsure if she should or not finish the sentence.

"I lack what?!" The princess's voice tone was menacing enough to make Grima shit his pants. That is, if he had any…

"You lack… Ah…" Morgan then motioned her hands in front of her chest up and down and said:

"Frontal femininity."

Lucina blushed intensely and covered her breasts with the arms.

"W-what are you talking about?! There's nothing wrong with them!" If it was possible, Lucina's face would be letting out steam.

"Of course not! It's not your fault you weren't gifted like me or other girls!" Lucina glared at Morgan in a mix of irritation and jealousy "Besides, what really matters is that you're happy with yourself!"

"What?!" Lucina became angry.

"Wait, that sounded bad…" Morgan commented after giving her speech a second thought "What really matters is that you're healthy!" She tried to correct herself.

"WHAT?!" Lucina became angrier.

"No, it sounded worse…"

If the moment allowed, Chrom would be crying desperately like a baby whose pacifier was taken. He knew the situation was bad, but he never imagined it would become SO BAD.

"Hey, Lucina! If this makes you feel better, I would turn lesbian just for you!" Morgan stated.

That simple comment made the court room turn into a marvelous crimson festival of bleeding noses. Not even Seiji could escape unharmed from Morgan's merciless words.

"Hey! Blood everywhere!" Henry celebrated from the back of the room.

"HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?!" Lucina yelled annoyed and redder than the whole court room.

"Gods! You're so picky! That way you will never have a boyfriend!" Morgan complained slightly offended for having her deliciousness rejected.

"Ob… Objection…!" Seiji exclaimed weakly, the sudden blood loss making him a bit dizzy "She's been saying only nonsense since I began my questioning! And she's clearly trying to incapacitate the opposing part!"

"It's not my fault you're a dirty pervert…" Morgan stated.

"Objection granted." The judge nodded and gave Morgan a serious look "Ms. Morgan, I ask you to control your comments and think before you speak."

The Proxy nodded.

"I apologize, Your Honor. I'll be more careful from now on."

Seiji needed a few more seconds to recover and clean his nose before he could resume his cross examination. Lucina and Morgan were avoiding eye contact, both angry at each other, but each for different reasons.

"Although Morgan has made some good points…" The prosecutor admitted, earning a furious glare from the defendant "There's a strong evidence to connect Lucina and the 'unknown' figure: both were wearing the same clothing, a very specific one by the way."

"There are lots of hoodies that look alike." Morgan retorted.

"Even a purple coat with a red hood and decorated with multicolored polka dots?"

"Ugh… I forgot we were talking about THAT hoody…" The Proxy said disappointed.

Seiji cleaned a few drops of blood with his sleeve and announced:

"The prosecution has no more questions."

"Very well." The judge nodded "In this case, the defendant can return to her seat."

Lucina got up and marched straight to her chair, putting it a few centimeters away from Morgan, still angry at her. Morgan ignored the princess and rubbed her chin worried; in that pace, Seiji would easily win the case. All evidences were working against her and the hoody only made things worse. Of course, Lucina's hoody wasn't the only one with that pattern (Morgan saw others being sold in Ylisstol a few days ago), but she couldn't think of anyone else who, in perfect mental conditions, would buy something so ugly. Not that Lucina was mentally damaged or anything, but her taste for clothes was horrible and no one could deny it.

"Now it's the prosecution's turn to summon a witness." The judge announced with a deep voice "Mr. Seiji, is there anyone you would like to call to the witness seat?"

"Yes, I do, Your Honor." Seiji announced "The prosecution calls Mr. Gerome, from the Shepherds, to the witness seat."

Gerome was caught off guard by the sudden summoning, but got up and walked towards the witness seat calmly. Morgan kept an emotionless face. After seeing Gerome's name in the document, she knew it was just a question of time until someone called the Wyvern Rider. If not Seiji, it would be her.

Gerome sat at the witness seat, with Morgan staring blankly at him. Seiji cleared his throat and began.

 **Witness Testimony**

"Mr. Gerome, would you kindly tell us what happened in the night of the crime and what were you doing?"

"When I arrived, the festival had just begun. I noticed a suspicious figure entering Ever Woods and followed it. I lost track of it after a few moments and thought it would be better to get Minerva to help me."

"Minerva?" Seiji asked.

"It's his wyvern." Morgan answered.

"Oh… I see. Continue."

"When I was about to leave, I heard something, I'm not sure of what, cutting trees and then a shadow coming out from the woods straight upwards. It was dark and I couldn't recognize it, so I went back to the village and called for the guards. They entered the woods and I followed them. After some minutes of search, we found Lucina, Cynthia and the merchant's body."

…

"Is that all?" Seiji asked a bit surprised.

"I have nothing else of importance to say." Gerome stated nonchalant.

"Don't mind. He's always like that." Morgan said to the prosecutor.

"Ah… If that's the case…" Seiji looked to the judge "May I begin my direct examination?"

The judge nodded.

 **Direct Examination**

"So, Mr. Gerome…" Seiji began "You gave us a… Very compact testimony. That's usually good, but I fear it also raises some questions."

"Like?" The Wyvern Rider asked.

"Unlike Ms. Lucina, you haven't told us what you did BEFORE arriving at the festival. It may not look, but any information, even about things that happened much before the event, can be used as evidences. Besides, it also makes your testimony feel more… Veridic. So, if you don't mind…"

Gerome apparently became annoyed at that, but Morgan noticed something else. After so much time training the arts of strategy and leadership with her father, she learned to notice even the slightest change in people's expressions, and not even Gerome's stupid mask (which he continued to use for reasons only the gods knew) could hide his feelings.

He wasn't just annoyed, he seemed somewhat… Nervous. Maybe even a bit embarrassed.

"I didn't do anything." He simply stated "I trained at the castle yards and went straight to the festival later."

" _Liar…"_ Morgan thought to herself.

"Uh…" Seiji didn't know how to react. He never questioned someone like him before.

"The… Prosecution has no more questions. I think…" He whispered the last part to himself.

"In this case, the defense can begin the cross examination." The judge announced.

 **Cross-Examination**

Morgan glared at Gerome for a few moments. She knew he wasn't telling the truth, or at least not the whole truth, but how to make him spill the beans?

"Ms. Morgan?" The judge called for the Proxy, who kept glaring at the witness like nothing else was happening around her. Gerome kept a stoic face, but felt a drop of sweat running down the back of his head.

Morgan was suspicious of something.

"Ok, Gerome, now it's MY turn to make you questions." The way she said it made a chill run down his spine.

"Could you repeat the answer you gave to the prosecutor?"

"Like I said…" He began annoyed "I did nothing special. I was training at the castle yards…"

"HOLD IT!" Morgan interrupted "You weren't at the castle yards training. I know it, because, since I'm replacing my father for all the Grandmaster's duties, I am receiving the daily reports the guards make about movement in the castle and the ones I received this morning about yesterday state that you were supposed to train there, but the only people who did so were Lucina, Kjelle, Sully and Frederick."

People began commenting about Morgan's revelation. Gerome felt more sweat running down the back of his head. He forgot she was receiving the guards' reports and had put himself in trouble.

"So, I'll ask you again… What were you doing BEFORE you went to the festival?" Morgan inquired.

"I… I was training…" Gerome said weakly.

"Liar." The Proxy accused.

There was no way to escape.

"I… I was in a farm helping a farmer with the animals." He finally confessed.

"And why did you hide it?" Morgan asked with a glare.

"Because I was supposed to be training. I reserved a time for that, but I saw an elderly farmer in Ylisstol having problems to control his goats and couldn't help myself. I ignored my training to help him. We went back to his farm and I stayed there until he finished his duties. By then, it was too late to go back, so I gave up on the idea and went to the festival." He admitted while blushing slightly.

An "awwww" filled the court room, making the Wyvern Rider blush even more.

"That's interesting, but there's another thing that's bugging me." Morgan rubbed her chin "Farmers only work until the sun sets, because it's too dangerous to keep the animals outside or work in the fields when it's dark. In this season, the sun sets at six hours and thirty minutes. The festival would begin only at eight. What were you doing during that hour and a half?"

"I went straight to the festival, but walked at a slow pace and took a longer route. That's why I only arrived when it began."

"And why did you do such a thing?"

Gerome remained quiet for a few seconds, then raised his shoulders and said:

"I don't know. Maybe I was in the mood for a walk."

Another lie. Whatever it was, Gerome wanted to hide it at all costs, but why? Pressing him wouldn't help much anymore, so she had to be creative. And creative she was, because, out of a sudden, she asked:

"Which road did you take?"

"The Rainbow Hills road."

"And how was the road?"

Gerome gave Morgan a weird look. Why did she want to know how was the road?

"Like always." He bluntly said "It was calm, with a soft breeze and the fields were covered in flowers."

" _Bingo!"_

"HOLD IT!" Morgan yelled "If you really took the Rainbow Hills road you would know there was NO FLOWERS IN THE FIELDS YESTERDAY!"

"WHAT?!" Gerome exclaimed incredulous.

"Yesterday, at six fifteen, a group of wyverns, attracted by the flowers nectar, arrived at the fields of Rainbow Hills and ATE most of them, leaving just a few patches in some places. So, there's no way the fields could be covered in flowers!" Morgan announced.

People began commenting about Morgan's revelation again. Gerome was sweating and Seiji looked incredulous at his rival. He never expected her to be so good in trials, especially taking in consideration it was her first time in one.

"Order in the court!" The judge ordered beating his hammer.

When silence returned, Morgan gave the witness, whose nervousness was now clear, a challenging look.

"So… Since it became clear that lying to me won't work, I'll make you a question and expect to hear the truth, otherwise…" She looked to the judge.

"The consequences for lying in your testimony will be severe." He finished for her.

"Thank you, Your Honor." She smiled to him.

With a malicious smile, she approached the Wyvern Rider and asked:

"What were you doing AFTER you helped the farmer and BEFORE you went to the festival?"

Gerome gulped. His hands were shaking; his shirt was soaked with sweat and everyone was giving him a suspicious glare.

"I…" He weakly began "I was… In the road… And then… I decided… I wanted…"

"STOP IT!" Someone suddenly screamed.

All gazes turned to the owner of the voice, who was no one less than Cynthia, the defendant's younger sister. She was sweating and her hands were shaking just like Gerome's. Lucina looked confused at her sister, while Chrom and Sumia began to whisper to each other.

"What?" Morgan asked, just as confused as everyone else.

"I can't take it anymore." She answered.

"C-Cynthia?" Gerome stuttered.

"I have to do it, Gerome!" She exclaimed "I know you won't tell them and if you don't then something bad will happen to you! I can't let this happen! That's…" She stopped and took a deep breath "What a hero would do…"

"Do you know something about the witness's story?" Seiji asked.

Cynthia nodded. Prosecutor and attorney exchanged a look, then both stared at the judge, who just nodded in agreement.

"In that case…" Seiji announced "The prosecution changes its witness!"

 **Witness Testimony**

"So, Ms. Cynthia, please enlighten us with the REAL story." Announced the prosecutor.

The princess nodded.

"I was in the town earlier that day and saw a farmer with some goats. I noticed he was having some trouble to control them and decided to help like a hero would do! Help who needs and never abandon the weak!"

"Here comes the heroics again…" Severa complained.

"But it didn't go as planned and I ended making a bigger mess. That's when Gerome appeared to help me. He put order in the situation and, together, we took the animals back to the farm. We stayed there helping the farmer with his chores until it was his time to finish the day. He thanked us with a strawberry cake and we left. I remembered about the festival and asked Gerome if he didn't want to come with me, which he accepted. We were on the Olive Road when Gerome asked me if we could make a quick detour."

"A detour? To where?" The prosecutor asked.

"He took me to a restaurant near the road. He said we worked hard and deserved a treat. So, we stopped there, ate something and talked for a while. After that, we left to the festival. The rest you already know. We arrived when the festival began, Gerome saw the mysterious figure, we followed it, we saw the shadow coming out of the woods… The difference comes now: Gerome went back to call the guards, but I kept going on. After a while, I found Lucina unconscious and the merchant. I ran to Lucina and began calling for her. When she awoke, the guards arrived and this confusion began."

 **Direct Examination**

…

"Wait…" Seiji began "Before you arrived at the festival and after you helped the farmer you went to the restaurant?"

"Yes." The princess confirmed.

"And that's what happened during the one hour and thirty minutes from the previous testimony?"

"Yes."

"And what Mr. Gerome was refusing to tell?"

"Yes."

Seiji and Morgan looked puzzled at Cynthia.

"Is that all? Just that? I can't see any reason to hide it." Seiji said.

"He's right." Morgan agreed "I mean, what's wrong with that? You two went to a restaurant, ate something and…"

" _Hold on…"_ Morgan thought _"Gerome and Cynthia… Alone… In a restaurant… No one knew… Refusing to say…"_

As the pieces began to fall into place, Morgan smiled mischievously at Cynthia, making the princess blush. Seiji looked confused for a moment, but slowly began to understand what had happened.

"W-wait…" He was jaw dropped "Was it a date?!"

Cynthia covered the face with her hands trying to hide a blush, thus confirming what Seiji had just said. The court room became a noisy mess due to the sudden revelation, while Gerome was desperately trying to hide in a corner, his face burning like an Elfire. Virion and Cherche only stared speechless at their son, unable to believe he made such a bold move, although Virion had a bit of pride shining in his eyes. Sumia and Lucina stared at Cynthia, unable to process what the young princess had just said. Chrom, on other hand, was furious.

"My son has chosen royalty!" Virion stated proudly.

"CHOSEN ROYALTY MY ASS!" Chrom turned around and yelled at Virion, making the Sniper flinch. He then glared at Gerome and furiously said:

"GEROME! I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION! AND NOW!"

"Ahh! ShipPING AS usual, I see!" Morgan said mischievously to Cynthia, who blushed even harder.

"Uh?!" Seiji asked incredulous "What did you say?!"

"Teeheehee! Nothing!" She said innocently.

The judge demanded order and beat his hammer, but the sound of everyone speaking at the same time covered his voice. The guards tried to control the audience, but Chrom threatened to jump from his chair and attack Gerome, which forced them to leave that for later and hold the Exalt. Sumia held one of his arms, also trying to control the furious man. Gerome recoiled in his chair, scared at how angry Chrom was.

Seiji could only look mortified at the enormous mess the court room became. It wasn't a trial anymore; it was a battlefield!

Morgan giggled at herself, still thinking about Cynthia's testimony. She always knew Gerome wanted something more from the princess, but never expected it to be revealed at Lucina's trial. She couldn't forget to tell her father about that! He would die of laughter!

And to think it all began because the Wyvern Rider refused to tell what happened before he arrived at the festival…

" _We arrived when the festival began, Gerome saw the mysterious figure, we followed it, we saw the shadow coming out of the woods…"_

Something clicked in Morgan's mind.

"HOLD IT!" She yelled, but no one heard.

"HOLD IT!" She tried again "HOLD IT! HOLD IT! HOLD IT! HOLD IT! CAN ANY DAMMED SON OF A GRIMA HEAR ME?! I SAID HOLD IT!"

Annoyed at being ignored, Morgan took an Arcthunder tome from her coat, charged her hand with electricity and shot it upwards. When the bolt hit the court room's roof, it made a deafening sound, some people screamed scared and finally made silence.

"Sheesh! I said HOLD IT!" Morgan complained, then turned to Cynthia to make her question.

"Cynthia, you and Gerome arrived when the festival began, right?"

"Uh? Yes."

"And the festival began at eight o'clock, right?"

"Yes."

"And that's exactly when you saw the hooded figure entering Ever Woods, right?"

"Yes, but what's the point of it?" Cynthia asked.

"The point is…" Dramatic pause "Lucina arrived at five past eight AND spent some time with the little girl BEFORE she entered Ever Woods! In other words, the person you saw entering the woods did so at least five minutes BEFORE Lucina!"

"But that would mean…" The judge began.

"They were wearing the same thing, but aren't the same person!" Morgan finished.

Another noisy mess began. The judge demanded order and Seiji felt his forehead drenched in sweat. His best evidence against Lucina had just turned to her favor. He thought it would be easy to win the case, but he clearly underestimated Morgan's skills and now was paying the price for his overconfidence.

Morgan completely ignored Seiji, the judge, Lucina or anyone else in the room to concentrate her mind in the facts. Although she got evidence to prove Lucina's innocence, the testimonies rose many more questions that, relevant to the case or not, were quite intriguing. She wanted to win the case for the princess, of course, but above everything she wanted the truth and now more pieces of the puzzle had appeared and made her job harder.

Who was the mysterious hooded figure?

Why he or she was wearing the same thing as Lucina?

And what on Earth was the shadow Gerome and Cynthia saw coming out of the woods?

 **To be continued…**

 _What's going to happen now? Who will win the trial? Ace Attorney Morgan? Or Ace Prosecutor Seiji? Discover in the next chapter of DragonBall Z!_

 _No, wait… Wrong story. I meant Morgan: Ace Attorney!_

 _Now, like I promised, the author notes:_

 _First, I would like to apologize because I promised to make this chapter more compact and FAILED MISERABLY! SERIOUSLY, THIS THING IS MORE THAN 1000 WORDS LONGER THAN THE LAST CHAPTER! HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE MORE COMPACT?! XD_

 _On a side note, I can't promise the next chapters will be shorter despite the crime scene having already been shown because the amount of details I must put in the testimonies to make them become a single story is big, so it's very likely that you'll see +4000 words chapters from now on._

 _Second, I know the Ace Attorney series only has the Cross-Examination part, but after doing some research I discovered about the Direct Examination and since both Morgan and Seiji summon witnesses and make questions to them, I decided to put it to make the story more alike to a real trial. Because of that, I also had to change the rules a bit and allow them to use the "HOLD IT!" in both cases._

 _Last, but not least, I would like to say there will be investigation parts in this story like in the games, but they will have their own chapters._

 _Thank you very much Has for the compliment and the warning! I checked this story a few more times than I did with the last chapter to make sure I covered all grammar issues, but it's very likely I overlooked something again. If you or anyone else notice anything, feel free to warn me!_

 _Also, thanks Forgotten Tyrant for the compliment and your suggestions! I am still trying to fit Alba in the plot, but your idea for the badge part gave me inspiration for a joke I am going to use in the next chapter!_

 _As a last note…_

 _Frontal femininity XD_

 _I'm sorry for this one guys, but I couldn't resist… I must have problems…_

 _See you in the next chapter and happy Valentine's Day!_


	3. UFOs and Jam!

_Sorry for the delay! This chapter is longer than the last one and I was a bit busy these last days, so it took me more time to finish. At least I managed to make it in one week like chapter 2._

 _Speaking of chapter 2, the scheme here is the same: I'll make author notes and comments about your reviews after the chapter's ending to not take too much of your time._

 _Now, enjoy!_

 _Oh! But first:_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own Fire Emblem or any other franchise/characters mentioned in this story. Everything belongs to its respective creators. I only own this story and the characters created specifically for it. If I owned Fire Emblem, I would have created a class of wyvern riders that could use tomes and allow Dark Knights and Dark Flyers to use Dark Magic (which I sincerely think would make sense :p)_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 3: Don't Put Jam on Your Pegasus! Risk of UFOs and Toilet Invasion!**

After a lot of effort and another Arcthunder to the roof, the court room became silent once again. Cynthia returned to her place at Lucina's side, avoiding eye contact with her parents. Lucina tried to ask something, but the younger princess raised a hand, asking her sister to say whatever she wanted later.

Morgan rubbed her chin thoughtful. The testimonies answered some questions, but raised many others. A mysterious shadow, a hooded figure, cuts in trees, glass breaking, something running… If that wasn't enough, there was still the issue with Chrom and the horribly written message left in Maribelle's folder. The Exalt's action of making her father the attorney when Maribelle clearly had more experience AND evidence to use could be dismissed as a case of 'I want my best friend to do it, because Lucina is like a daughter to him' (and that would be true), but the words left for her in the folder said the opposite.

So many unanswered questions…

Who was the hooded figure?

What was that shadow?

What made the cuts?

Why Lucina heard glass breaking?

What the message meant?

And above everything else, how could Lucina reject Morgan's deliciousness?! Madness! She was irresistible! Everyone would be jealous of her if she had the famous Proxy as companion!

Well, worse for her… Morgan didn't need the princess anyway. She had Noire.

By the way, don't tell this to Tharja or she will become unbearable.

"Now that everyone has calmed down, let's resume the trial." The judge calmly announced "On a side note, although you have my thanks for restoring silence and order, I fear the damage done to the court room must be paid by you, Ms. Morgan." He stated to the young Proxy.

"I know…" She lamented, giving a quick look to the hole open in the ceiling. She should have used a less potent tome or aimed at another place; now she had two holes to fix: one in the ceiling and other in her pocket.

Well, at least it was a beautiful day and she had a credit card.

"The testimonies revealed many intriguing details, especially the ones related to the mysterious events in Ever Woods." The judge said grooming his white beard "Does the defense have any witnesses or evidence related to these events?"

Morgan scanned her papers and the documents in Maribelle's folder. There were no mentions to said events. Apparently, only Gerome, Cynthia and Lucina witnessed these things. The guards saw the marks in the trees, but that alone didn't mean much as they were very alike to sword cuts. Disappointed, she sighed and simply stated:

"No, Your Honor. Unfortunately, the defense has nothing."

"I see." The judge said "And the prosecution? Does it have anything?"

Seiji also scanned his papers and, like Morgan, sighed and said:

"No, Your Honor. The prosecution also lacks evidence and witnesses to said events."

The judge closed his eyes and groomed his beard a few more times. That was unfortunate. Without witnesses or evidence, these mysterious events would remain a question mark in the whole case.

Were they related to the murder or just random events that had the happiness of happening at the same time as the crime? He didn't know the answer, but dismissing them as mere coincidences would be imprudent. After fifty-three years working in the Ylissean Court, the judge knew better than anyone how little things and details that looked completely unrelated to the case could be the key to solving it.

However, with the defense and the prosecution out of usable data, he would be forced to ignore these events momentarily and continue the trial with whatever they had.

Or at least until…

"Wait just a moment!" A voice spoke suddenly.

Everyone's gaze turned to the voice's owner, who surprisingly was no one less than Sumia, the queen. Seiji was caught off guard, but Morgan's jaw dropped so much it risked to touch the floor. Lucina was the defendant; Cynthia was one of the witnesses and now Sumia also had something to do with the case?! What was that?! The whole royal family was involved?! If she wasn't seeing it with her own eyes, she would dismiss it as a bad idea for a fanfiction.

"Mrs. Sumia, do you have something to say about the testimonies?" The judge asked surprised.

Sumia looked a bit unsure for a moment.

"A-actually…" She nervously began "I am not sure if this is related to the case or not, but something happened in the night of the incident and, after hearing the testimonies, I believe it may be somehow linked to the events."

Morgan and Seiji exchanged a look and then stared at the judge. The elderly man noticed the attorney and prosecutor gazes at him, shook his head, recovered his stoic expression and announced:

"Very well. If this is something related to the case, then it's our duty to listen to it. Mrs. Sumia, please come to the witness seat."

Sumia nodded, got up and marched to the seat in the middle of the room. Chrom followed his wife with the eyes, still surprised at her sudden statement. Lucina, Cynthia and Morgan did the same, still trying to process the surprising situation.

Surprising or not, Morgan had to concentrate. A new witness appeared and her job as Lucina's attorney was far from over. Once again, she snapped her fingers and Seiji cleared his throat.

" _Oh, no… Don't tell me…"_ Chrom thought.

"BRING IT ON!" Both attorney and prosecutor said in unison.

" _Why the hell they do that? What is that supposed to mean?!"_ He facepalmed.

 **Witness Testimony**

"Mrs. Sumia, if you please…" The judge said.

Sumia nodded and began her narrative.

"In the day of the incident, I went out to train with the new recruits of the Pegasus Knights Units. We have a lot of recruits now, so Cordelia helped me taking half of the squadron. We made some basic exercises and formations around the castle. At five in the afternoon, I dismissed the recruits and was about to finish my day when Cordelia came to me and asked if I could take her turn in patrolling the village during the festival."

"Oh… Did she?" Morgan gave the red-haired Pegasus Knight a repressive look "Care to explain why I haven't received any report about that little change in the schedule?"

"I… I won't lie. I completely forgot to report that." Cordelia admitted embarrassed. That was quite a surprise considering how diligent she used to be.

"And what would be the reason for that sudden change?" Morgan asked with a scolding face.

"Ms. Morgan, I understand you have to take your father's responsibilities and demand all changes in the schedule to be notified, but I don't believe this is the ideal place for that." The judge advised.

Morgan nodded.

"I understand, Your Honor. I'm sorry." She then turned to Cordelia "But I won't forget this! I want an answer before nine!"

"Mrs. Sumia, if you please." The judge asked.

"Yes, Your Honor." Sumia then resumed her testimony.

"Since I had nothing planned for that night, I accepted to take her turn. The festival would begin only at eight in the evening, so I seized that free time to train a bit with my Pegasus. During my training, I sighted two thieves attacking a couple of merchants and went to help them."

"Why those things aren't present in any report, Your Majesty?" Morgan scolded.

"Ms. Morgan…"

"I know. I know. I apologize again." She then glared at the queen "But I want an answer before nine!"

"Uh… Sure…" The way Morgan glared at her made Sumia a bit scared "I defeated the thieves and they fled. The couple was so thankful they wanted to give me a gift. I refused, but they insisted and weren't willingly to let me go without it. After seeing what it was, though, I didn't think twice before accepting."

"What would it be?" The judge asked curious.

"One of Ylisse's greatest delicacies!" Sumia beamed.

"Salty bear meatballs!" Morgan shouted.

"Morgan, shut…"

"Apricot and blackberry jam!"

"A-apricot and blackberry jam?!" Seiji stuttered.

"Oooh… Are we going to have a demonstration of your little addiction, pretty boy?" Morgan asked mockingly.

"A-addiction?!" Seiji retorted indignant "I have no addiction!"

"And why are you drooling?"

"T-this is a medical condition! Show some respect!" Seiji complained, cleaning a bit of drool dripping from his mouth.

"That's what I keep saying about my blood obsession! But no one believes me." Henry commented from the back of the room.

"Henry, shut up." Tharja scolded.

"They gave me three pots of that delicious jam!" Sumia continued "I put them in my Pegasus and set flight."

"Carrying the jam!" Morgan pointed out.

"It was nearly the time to begin the patrolling, so I had to keep the pots with me."

"So, she carried the delicious jam!"

"I headed straight to the village…"

"With the jam!"

"OBJECTION!" Seiji yelled, cleaning a bit of drool from his chin "She's clearly mocking me and my… Medical condition!"

"I didn't want to take the pots with me, because it would be extra weight for my Pegasus and I risked to expose them to heat or cold, but the duty was more important than any pot of jam… Even if I was going to use it to make a pie for the Pies Contest."

"Seems like Sumia…" Morgan began mockingly "Wanted to make a show for the final JAM!"

"YOUR HONOR!"

"Teeheehee! Ok, ok! I'll stop!"

"The weather was good and I decided to take a shortcut flying over Ever Woods. It was all going alright until the unexpected happened."

"What happened?" The judge asked.

"Something hit me when I was reaching the village. The impact nearly made me lose balance and scared my Pegasus. For a moment, I thought I was going to fall, but managed to control the situation."

"Something?" Morgan gave her a questioning look.

"Yes. I don't know what it was or where it came from, but I know it fell straight down in the woods after hitting me. It was dark, so I could only see a black blur disappearing between the trees. I thought about going after it, but the vegetation under me was so dense it would be nearly impossible to approach securely. Besides, my Pegasus and I were very scared by the situation, so I gave up on the idea and returned to the castle."

"And…" Seiji began nervously "What of the pots? The jam pots?"

Sumia sniffed.

"I lost all of them! Every single one fell with the thing and got lost in the forest forever!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Seiji kneeled and screamed in despair.

The court room was filled with an awkward silence. After noticing what he had just done, Seiji quickly stood up, cleared his throat and said:

"I… I mean… That's very unfortunate."

"Sheesh… All this commotion over a few pots of stupid jam…" Morgan commented.

"IT'S NOT STUPID! IT'S ONE OF YLISSE'S MOST REFINED AND TASTEFUL DELICACIES AND DESERVE RESPECT!" Seiji and Sumia complained together.

"Seems like Seiji found a friend for the narcotics anonymous." Morgan giggled.

"AND IT IS NOT A DRUG!" They once again said in unison.

"Order in the court!" The judge beat his hammer "Mrs. Sumia, do you have something else to tell us?"

"Actually, not much. After that unfortunate incident I left for the castle, put my Pegasus back in her stall and went to take a bath. I was very scared and sad for losing the pots, so all I wanted was to rest a bit and forget what had happened."

"HOLD IT!" Morgan suddenly yelled.

"Hey! The examinations haven't begun yet!" Seiji complained.

Morgan ignored the boy and continued to speak.

"You agreed to take Cordelia's turn patrolling the village, but instead of doing it you went back home and left the people unprotected?"

After hearing Morgan, Sumia noticed what she had done and blushed intensely.

"You little slacker! I'll write a report on that and ensure it'll be the first father will see when he comes back!" Morgan shook her head "No! Better yet! I'll tell father about that next time I call him! Yes! Then he'll tell me how to punish you!"

"H-he can't punish me!" Sumia retorted nervous.

"Actually... You're right. He can't." The girl admitted disappointed.

"Ms. Morgan…" The judge once again warned. Morgan just nodded, showing to have understood the message.

"Mrs. Sumia, is this all?" He asked.

"Yes, Your Honor."

"In this case, let's begin the direct examination."

 **Direct Examination**

…

Despite the judge's words, prosecutor and attorney remained silent. Sumia looked nervously at them, asking herself why they weren't doing anything. To say the truth, everyone, even the judge and the guards, were surprised by the sudden silence.

After a few more seconds of quietude, Morgan and Seiji, noticing no one had done anything, exchanged a confused look.

"Uh… Your Honor…" Morgan began "Since you're the one who summoned the witness, which part is going to run the direct examination?"

The judge was surprised by the question.

"Ah… Well... I forgot that little detail." He admitted a bit embarrassed "But I remember the last witness was summoned by the prosecution, so I believe it would be fair if the defense makes the direct examination."

Morgan and Seiji exchanged another look, then stared at the judge and nodded.

 **Direct Examination (this time for real!)**

"Sumia, regnant queen of Ylisse…" Morgan began, walking closer to her "If I remember well, you said the events that happened to you in that day had some connection to the crime, right?"

"I never affirmed they were, but I strongly believe they are." Sumia answered.

"Why do you believe so strongly?"

"Gerome and Cynthia saw a mysterious shadow coming out of the woods straight upwards and Lucina heard glass breaking." She explained "Considering what happened to me, I don't think it could be just a coincidence, especially because all these events were in the Ever Woods.

Morgan rubbed her chin thoughtful. It made sense; Sumia was hit by an unidentified flying object and let the jam pots to fall. The UFO could easily be the shadow and the pots were the glass breaking.

But what about the sound of something running Lucina heard? What could it be?

"HOLD IT!" Seiji exclaimed "Although I admit it's very unlikely to be just a mere coincidence, Mrs. Sumia couldn't recognize the object that hit her and neither could Mr. Gerome or Ms. Cynthia identify the one they saw coming out of the woods. As such, there's no way to affirm these two things were the same. After all, it's UNLIKELY, but not IMPOSSIBLE to be a coincidence."

Morgan scratched the back of her head; Seiji was right and without evidence to prove a connection there was no way to state the UFO in Gerome and Cynthia's testimony was the same Sumia saw that day.

"Even because…" Seiji continued "Considering Mrs. Sumia was flying, it could be anything, from another Pegasus to a goose."

Sumia looked indignant at the prosecutor.

"What do you mean with a goose?! I am a bit clumsy, but a goose or something of that size wouldn't make me lose control!"

Seiji gulped. He accidentally offended the queen, and that couldn't be good, especially since he was the one trying to put her relative in jail.

"Your Highness…" The prosecutor used the most respectful tone he could "I didn't mean to offend you. What I meant is: any obstacle, even a very small one like a bird, can seriously affect a flying object's trajectory. Especially if it hit you at full speed, like it seems to have."

"HOLD IT!" Morgan exclaimed "Actually, I have to admit Seiji makes a good point. If we consider Sumia's history, a goose becomes an even more plausible possibility."

The Pegasus Knight looked even more indignant at Morgan.

"What do you mean with MY HISTORY?!" She asked angrily.

"Sumia, no offense, seriously, but you have the BIGGEST history of causing or getting involved in accidents of the whole army. And with 'the whole army' I don't mean only the Shepherds, but the WHOLE army." Morgan declared nonchalant "Actually, I think the only person with a history that could rival yours is Owain."

"Hey!" The boy complained.

"I trip a lot and brake some things, I admit! But those things can happen to anyone!" The queen retorted.

"If it was just about breaking things, there would be no problem at all. Chrom and Vaike together broke more things in one week than the three groups of Plegian assassins who invaded the castle three years ago."

"HEY!" Both men protested.

"But your accidents reach a completely different level." The Proxy finished.

"Oh, really?" Sumia huffed crossing her arms "Say three 'accidents that reach a completely different level' I caused!"

Morgan sighed. She didn't want to expose, much less humiliate Sumia in front of the whole audience, but if that was the only way to convince her…

"There's that day when you tripped on a pebble and pushed a guard, that pushed another guard, that pushed another guard, that pushed ANOTHER guard and so on, creating a domino effect until all sixty-nine guards of the unit were lying on the floor."

Sumia blushed and shrugged in the chair.

"And that day when you went to Ylisstol and, only the gods know how, put fire on the fountain. ON THE FOUNTAIN." Morgan made sure to stand out the last part.

"And that day when you wanted to help father reform the castle and ended destroying the toilet's wall while Chrom was using it."

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Uh… Whoops…"

The whole court room exploded in laughter. Vaike, Severa, Lissa, Stahl and even the more serious ones like Libra, Cherche and Seiji began laughing. The judge, Lucina and Cynthia didn't do anything, but were clearly having to use all their self-control to do so. The only ones who remained silent were Chrom, Sumia and Morgan. The royal couple, because they were too embarrassed to do anything else and the young Proxy for noticing the huge mistake she just made.

 _ **Flashback**_

"Hey, Robin! What are you doing?" Sumia asked, getting closer to the Grandmaster.

"Oh, Sumia. I was just looking at the projects of the castle." Robins answered.

"Huh? The castle's projects? Why?"

"Chrom told me some walls need to be reformed and asked me to start it. I thought about just fixing them, but some are in such a bad state it would be better to rebuild." He then turned his eyes back to the castle's plants.

"Oh! Is that why you have a hammer with you?"

Robin just nodded. It was a bit hard to convince Vaike to lend his hammer for that kind of work, but a bit of insistence (and a bit more of threatening) made the magic.

"Hey, Robin! I had an idea! Let me help you!"

"Thanks Sumia, but there's no need." Robin refused with a smile.

"Awww… But I want to help!" Sumia insisted.

"I know it, but this is the Grandmaster's job. You don't have to worry about this."

"Of course I do! I'm the queen and this castle is my home! How can…" She stopped and suddenly glared at Robin for some reason. The Grandmaster looked scared at her.

"Uh… Sumia?" He stepped back "What's wrong?"

"I got it! You think I'm going to cause some accident with that hammer, don't you?!" The queen accused.

"What? Nonsense! I don't think it."

That wasn't a lie. Robin didn't think she would cause an accident, he KNEW she would cause an accident. Of course, he couldn't say this to her, so…

"But you have… Royal responsibilities! Yes! And I don't want to be a nuisance to you! So, don't worry! Leave it to me!" He said and quickly turned around to get away as fast as possible.

"You're not going anywhere, mister!" Sumia protested, grabbing Robin's coat and forcing him to come back.

"I want to help and I'm going to help! So, give me that hammer immediately!"

"But…"

"This is an ORDER!"

Robin was cornered. Sumia had just used her authority as queen and he couldn't do anything but obey. Reluctantly, he gave her the hammer and she nearly let it fall on the ground.

"O-okay…" She stuttered, trying to lift the heavy hammer "W-what is the first place?"

Robin opened his mouth, but before he could say anything the woman warned:

"And no tricks, Mr. Grandmaster."

He sighed. His plan failed before it even began.

"The first things I planned to fix were the kitchen and toilet walls. The kitchen is already inspected, so it'll be the first place. I'll inspect the toilet later today."

"O-okay…" Sumia's face was already covered in sweat "Uh, pardon me for the question, but why didn't you use magic to destroy the walls?"

"I thought about that, but no tome would be efficient. Wind tomes would barely scratch the rock; weaker fire tomes would do nothing while stronger ones would transform the walls into lava and thunder tomes have a… Bad habit of exploding their targets and I don't want rocks flying everywhere."

"W-what about dark magic?"

"The only people in the army who can use dark magic are Henry, Tharja, Morgan and Aversa. I didn't call Henry or Tharja for obvious reasons, Morgan is forbidden of using dark magic until next week because of the little 'accident' she caused yesterday and Aversa… Well, let's say she's in one of 'those days' and I don't want to bother her."

Robin looked at the queen and shrugged noticing how much difficulty she was having to lift the hammer.

"Sumia, are you sure about this? I can do it alone."

"O-of course I am!" She declared panting "Does it look like there's any reason to worry?"

" _Considering you're barely holding the hammer five centimeters above the ground, yes, I think there are lots of reasons to worry."_ Robin thought.

Putting his thought aside, Robin repeated his plan of fixing the kitchen's wall first for good measure and left to get the materials Morgan was checking. Sumia went to start the work, dragging the hammer with difficulty.

" _The nerve of that man!"_ She complained in her thoughts _"I can do this! I'll show him! I'm not just a cute face!"_ She stopped _"Alright, what was the first wall again? Oh, yes! The toilet's wall!"_

It wasn't.

Meanwhile, Lucina and Cynthia were taking a break in the gardens after a long day of chores. Suddenly, they heard their parents screaming. They ran to their aid, wondering what had happened. When they arrived, the world's most terrifying scene appeared before them:

Sumia, holding a hammer, covered in dust and screaming, bricks everywhere, a hole in the wall and Chrom, in all his royal magnificence, sitting on the 'throne' with his pants down.

 **Back to the court room…**

"Maybe I should have used another example…" Morgan commented.

"MAYBE?!" Chrom yelled, red as a tomato "Wait… How did you know about that?!"

"What do you mean with 'how did you know about that'? I was there!"

"Huh?!"

 _ **Flashback**_

Chrom was sitting on the toilet, thinking about the plans of fixing the castle.

" _Let's think… Robin planned to fix the kitchen and the toilet's walls today. Which place we should do next?"_

Before he could think more about it, the wall in front of him collapsed, exposing him to the world.

"What in the… AHHHHH!" He yelled, noticing Sumia holding a hammer in the other side of the hole.

The scene before him couldn't be worse. In that private moment, a hole appeared in the wall and now Sumia, Lucina and Cynthia could see everything. To add insult to injury, behind them, Robin stared jaw dropped and completely horrified while Morgan pointed a mocking finger at him and laughed uncontrollably.

 **Back at the court room…**

" _That girl is a demon! A demon sent to punish my sins!"_ Chrom yelled in his mind, using both hands to hide his red face.

The judge took a deep breath to control himself, beat his hammer a few times to restore order to the court and proceeded as normally as possible.

"Very well. The defense has anything else to ask?" He looked at Morgan, still trying to suppress a laughter.

Morgan had more questions to make, but after humiliating and insulting both Sumia and Chrom, even if by accident, she thought it would be wiser to stop before things got out of control. Not that they weren't already out of control, but at least were relatively bearable.

"No, Your Honor. The defense has nothing else to ask." She declared.

"In this case, the prosecution can start its cross-examination."

 **Cross-Examination**

Seiji heard the judge, but didn't do anything. He was still laughing and needed a minute to recover. Sumia and Chrom glared at the boy while Morgan admired the sky from the hole in the ceiling, whistling a music and pretending nothing embarrassing had happened in the last minutes for her fault.

After taking some deep breaths, Seiji managed to control himself and began the questioning.

"I apologize…" He stated and turned to Sumia, who was still glaring at him "Mrs. Sumia, during your flight to the village, did you notice anything abnormal in the Ever Woods?"

"Like what?" The queen asked angrily.

"Mr. Gerome and Ms. Cynthia claim to have heard something cutting trees. Have you noticed anything that could be related to that? Like trees moving, leaves getting scattered, birds fleeing or any suspicious sound?"

…

"I… I didn't mean anything with the birds…" He claimed a bit nervous.

"No. I haven't." She stated nonchalant.

"And exactly at which time did the incident happen?"

"I'm not sure. When I left the merchants, it was nearly eight. I believe it should be eight o'clock or something around that, because I could see the village's lights from the distance, which means the festival had already begun."

Morgan noticed where Seiji was trying to get and became a bit worried. It COULD be eight o'clock or could NOT BE. If it was, the chances of the UFO Gerome and Cynthia saw to be the same thing that hit Sumia were big, but if it happened much later, then doubts would appear everywhere and the whole theory would be flushed away. Worse, if it happened, the testimonies would lose any kind of connection and become mere random events that coincided to happen at the same time.

And, like the Ylissean Law Code stated, any evidence or testimony that gave room for doubts couldn't be used for or against the defendant, unless their truthfulness was substantiated. In other words, Lucina's testimony could and would become questionable.

"As you can see…" Seiji turned to the audience "When said events happened is something we don't know and, apparently, with the evidence and testimonies we dispose now, is questionable. As such, connecting this testimony to the others becomes impossible. More than that…" He gave Lucina a menacing look "It also makes the defendant's testimony questionable."

People began commenting about Seiji's statement. Morgan furrowed her brow.

" _Just like I thought…"_

Lucina looked at her attorney in the hope of she making or saying something that would get her out of that problem, but Morgan's worried face made the princess become nervous. If Morgan, who always had something to say about anything, even the stupidest thing possible, ran out of ideas, then things were getting hairy.

"Y-you can't say that!" Sumia complained "I-I mean… You can't prove the testimonies aren't related to each other! You have no evidence…"

"To state this? Yes, I admit it. I lack evidence to dismiss these events as mere coincidences." Seiji finished for her "But, if I remember well, the defense also lacks evidence or witnesses to prove they're related to each other. Right, Morgan?" He asked the girl.

Morgan sighed. It was painful to admit, but Seiji was right.

"Yes, as much as I would like to say the opposite, you're completely right. Without witnesses or evidence, they become mere random events that raise many doubts, and the Ylissean Law is very clear: if the testimonies or evidence give room for doubts, they can't be used."

The people in the audience began to whisper to each other. Lucina was panicking inwardly; Cynthia held her sister's trembling hand trying to comfort her. Morgan also felt the crushing weight of pressure on her shoulders, but tried to remain calm. It was still early to give up, no matter how bad the situation was becoming.

"I won't lie, that was a good move, Seiji. I'll give you credit for this." Morgan admitted with a scowl "But just being credited for a smart decision won't work in the court!"

Morgan's own words made something click in her mind; a small detail she had forgotten before.

" _Credit… Won't work on court… Pay for the…"_

As it slowly registered in Morgan's head, her eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped.

"OH, NO!" She suddenly screamed, startling everyone.

"W-what?! What now?!" Seiji inquired.

"I forgot the Ylissean Court doesn't accept credit card!" She declared heartbroken "Which means I'll have to pay for the ceiling's repair in cash and spend all the money I have now! My dream of buying a Nintendo Switch on the pre-order is crushed!"

Now it was the turn for the rest of the court room to become jaw dropped.

"What the… Is that what you wanted to say?!" The prosecutor couldn't be angrier "We're in the middle of an important case here and you waste your time thinking about stupidities like that?! At least once try to act like a professional!"

"Hey! I'm a professional!" Morgan retorted indignant "I'm probably even more professional than you!"

"More professional than me?!" Seiji was offended "Since this trial began you've been saying nonsense nonstop! Besides, if you were a REAL professional you would have one of these!" He took his badge out of his coat and showed it proudly to her.

"Ha! I have something better than that!" Morgan declared, also taking a badge out of her coat, but unlike Seiji's it wasn't a Ylissean Court badge. It was shaped like a shield, had Ylisse's Halidom written in it and the figure of an open book with an eye in it.

"What on Earth is that?" The prosecutor asked.

"This is the Proxy Badge! It's a symbol of my authority as the Proxy of Ylisse's Grandmaster!" She showed it to all people present "It also allows me to use traded Pokémon up to level 80!"

Everyone (even the judge and his guards) facepalmed. Of course, she had to say something like that…

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! This is amazing!" Morgan protested.

"OBJECTION!" Seiji yelled "Actually, that's pretty stupid…"

The prosecutor laughed lowly, but was interrupted by a copy of "Ylissean Law" thrown at his face. He fell backwards, holding his nose and grumbling something impossible to understand.

"Ms. Morgan!" The judge scolded.

"Sorry, it slipped my hand." The attorney said innocently.

"Slipped your hand, my ass! It nearly broke my nose!" Seiji angrily stated, still holding his nose.

"NEARLY BROKE YOUR NOSE?!" Morgan declared afraid, but quickly changed to a mocking tone and said:

"Aw… Seems like I didn't use enough force."

"You little piece of sh…"

"That's enough!" The judge beat his hammer, for the first time irritated "The defense and the prosecution must stop this regrettable behavior or both parts will be severely punished!"

Morgan and Seiji glared at each other.

"Besides…" He proceeded, recovering his composure and taking a quick look at his clock "It's already ten past four and there's another trial scheduled for four thirty-five. We're running out of time and…"

" _Time…? Wait!"_ Seiji suddenly realized something.

"HOLD IT!" He yelled.

"Huh? Did… Did I say something wrong?" The judge asked a bit confused.

"No! No! Sorry, Your Honor! I didn't mean that!" He quickly tried to correct himself "I just happened to notice we all overlooked a major inconsistency in the testimonies."

Morgan gave Seiji a curious look. A major inconsistency?

"Per the testimonies, Cynthia and Gerome saw something coming out of the woods." He proceeded to explain "That particular event happened a few moments after they arrived at the festival and saw the mysterious hooded figure. Lucina said she entered in the woods and heard glass breaking. Sumia stated something hit her and she let the pots of jam fall." He had to hold a tear at that part "The logic would say Lucina heard the pots breaking when they hit the ground, BUT…"

"But...?" Morgan asked, unsure of where he was trying to get.

"Lucina also stated she arrived at five past eight AND spent some time with the little girl before entering Ever Woods. In other words, the shadow Cynthia and Gerome saw would have hit Sumia BEFORE Lucina entered in the woods! This little detail creates a time discrepancy."

Morgan trembled.

"But…" She began insecure "That would mean…"

"If Lucina heard the pots breaking, she should be IN Ever Woods when the unidentified mysterious object hit Sumia, thus turning her testimony FALSE!" Seiji declared smirking.

Another noisy mess began. Lucina fell in despair and Cynthia held her sister's hand stronger. Sumia and Chrom exchanged worried looks and the Shepherds were protesting Seiji's statement.

Morgan felt the back of her head drenched in sweat. Everything seemed to be going in Lucina's favor, but the tables had turned again for Seiji's side. One single testimony was enough to made the whole thing go downhill.

" _This is bad…"_ Morgan thought _"If things keep going like this Lucina will be put behind the bars… I must do something! But what? That time discrepancy ruined my line of thinking and I have no more ideas!"_

She was in a bad position. Seiji cornered her and she had to find a way to escape.

But how?

 **To be continued…**

 _Things don't look very good for Morgan now, do they? Seiji is getting an upper hand on our Ace Attorney! How will she deal with that hard situation? How much that time discrepancy will affect Lucina's destiny?_

 _To discover the answers for these questions and many more, stay tuned for the next chapter of:_

 _Bravely Second: End Layer_

 _Gah! Wrong story again! I meant Morgan: Ace Attorney!_

 _Now, for the author notes:_

 _I said this chapter was longer than the last one, but I was looking at the words counter and noticed it's just a bit, especially if we don't consider the notes. Maybe it looked longer because it has more dialogue or maybe because it's 80% only jokes, but I'm not sure._

 _Also, don't fear if this looked like a filler chapter. As random as the information given here may look, they are related to the case. Some in a weird way, but are._

 _And I apologize for the rushed ending. It was supposed to end differently, but the chapter was becoming way too long and I was running out of time, so I got the last part and decided to make it the beginning of the next one. In a way, it happened for the better, as now I have a way to introduce investigations to the story._

 _Now, for the reviews:_

 _Qorilazo: I'm happy to know you had fun reading my story! That's the reason I made it in first place: to make people laugh! :D About the compacting thing… For a moment, I thought I was putting too much information and making the chapters too long, but maybe I was just overthinking the subject. From now on, I'll let my imagination run wild!_

 _slightlyabovehuman: Lucina's terrible sense of fashion could be considered a crime in a way XD Severa and Tharja are planned to appear in some moment, but I have no ideas for Owain. At least yet… And an Awakening/Ace Attorney crossover… Well, we can dream, can't we? I hope some guy from Nintendo discovers this._

 _whitefri2z: The only reason she didn't is because Robin can't take her place and she needs an attorney now XD_

 _DarkestLigther: That's a possibility, although it would be a bit counterproductive. I mean, Lucina is madly trying not to be arrested and then gives a reason to be arrested XD_

 _Guest: Yes! F!MorganxInigo confirmed!_

 _Has: Good to see you again! Happy to know you liked chapter 2! By the way, where can I find a mechanical slingshot powered by a hamster? Not that I want to use it on anyone, of course not! It's just for… Scientific reasons. About the pacing… Yes, that is a problem. I'll try to fix it, but that's something I always had some issues with and it may take some time._

 _TotallynotGangre: Originally, the investigations would have only Morgan and three OCs I made specifically for that, but your idea is better! I'll keep the OCs though… Got too attached to abandon them now XD The only spotpass character I can't use is Aversa because she's on vacations with Robin, thus can't appear now._

 _And to you, my dear Forgotten Tyrant, did you like the way I used your idea? I changed your original concept a bit and hope you don't mind. By the way, Alba is confirmed to appear as a witness in a later chapter._

 _For now, that's all!_

 _See you in the next chapter and remember: stay amazing!_


	4. No Smartphones in the Investigation

_Sorry for the delay! It was a long chapter and took me more time to finish than I expected. I hope it will be good enough to make up for the wait, otherwise…_

 _Well, no one wants to read me complaining about time issues or anything of that kind, so let's go straight to what matters!_

 _Of course, before the story…_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters. Any other franchise/character cited in this story belongs to its respective creators. It's a bit weird to repeat this every time I write a new chapter, but like Lucina I don't want to be arrested, so…_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 4: No Smartphones in The Investigation**

The court room was a noisy mess once again, but this time Morgan didn't do anything. First, because another Arcthunder wasn't an option for lack of funds. Second, because that mess gave her time to think.

The situation was bad; Seiji managed to ruin her entire strategy using a single testimony. If Lucina arrived at five past eight and spent time with the little girl all the events Gerome, Cynthia and Sumia related would have already happened when she entered Ever Woods. Of course, there was the possibility everything took more time than it sounded to have, but she had no evidence to prove that.

Besides, per Lucina, the little girl showed her some food and game stalls, which probably took at least another five minutes or so. She even said it took some more time until she heard about the wolf sightings and entered the woods, making even more unlikely she heard the jam pots breaking.

But if she didn't, then what was the glass breaking she heard? And the sound of something running and the maniacal laugh? Seiji managed to make everything sound like a badly made lie, but Morgan was sure it wasn't the case. The princess would never lie, especially in a situation like that.

"Morgan… Please tell me you have a plan…" Lucina whispered nervous to her attorney.

The white-haired girl sighed. She had no plans, no ideas and couldn't find a way to get out of that mess.

"Morgan…"

"No, Lucina. I don't." She simply said.

"Lucina…" Cynthia called for her sister, but she apparently didn't notice.

"Please…" Lucina was nearly crying "You have to do something…"

"I can't." That's the answer she received.

"Please…"

"Lucina! Do you think I wouldn't do something if I could?!" Morgan whispered angrily "I have wonderful skills, but I'm not Naga! I can't make miracles!" She then glared at the prosecutor, who was looking speechless at how the Shepherds were overreacting his last move "That dammed Seiji tied my hands! The stupid time discrepancy he cited complicated everything!"

"Lucina…" Cynthia called again, but the noise in the court room was so loud she couldn't hear her.

"And what is going to happen to me now?" The princess asked nervous.

Morgan sighed. Considering how things were going, it was impossible to be one hundred percent sure, but if she had to guess…

"I know the judge and he won't declare you guilty because the evidence shown give room for doubts, too many things are unexplained, the witnesses never made clear if you killed the man or not and the time we have left isn't enough to finish the trial, but since your testimony became doubtful, there's no way to prove the opposite and we're running out of time…" She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly "I believe he'll keep you in a cell until the trial is resumed."

Lucina's eyes widened in shock. She would be arrested even if they couldn't prove her guilt?

"I know what you're thinking and yes, unfortunately they can put you in a cell even if your guilt hasn't been proved." Morgan practically read her client's mind "As there is a possibility that you're lying and since lying in a testimony is a crime he won't risk to leave you free. Don't take it personal… It's not like he doesn't trust you or anything, but the law is strict and absolute. Leaving you free could cause problems to him."

"But I don't want to be arrested!" Lucina whispered desperate "Not even for a single day!"

"Lucina…" Cynthia called and was ignored again.

"I know, Lucy. I know." Morgan said worried. She wanted to do something. She HAD to do something.

" _But what can I do now?"_ She asked herself.

While the girls talked, the guards managed to control the audience and the court room became silent once again. With the situation under control, the judge proceeded.

"Mr. Seiji's revelation surely turned this whole case upside down." He groomed his beard a few times "The prosecution understands the seriousness of its statement?"

"Yes, Your Honor. I would never state something so serious without being sure. The sequence of the events doesn't make sense unless Ms. Lucina was already in the woods." He gave a menacing glare at the defendant and the three witnesses "If she isn't the one lying, then it must be one of the witnesses."

The Shepherds once again began protesting the prosecutor.

"Order in the court!" The judge announced beating his hammer. When silence returned, he looked to Morgan and asked:

"The defense has any evidence, witness or other information to argue against the prosecution's statement?"

The young attorney scratched her head nervous. She wanted to argue against it, but had nothing to use leaving as her only option to say:

"No, the defense has nothing."

A general commotion began.

"Since the opposing part has nothing to say and we don't have enough time to finish this trial today…" Seiji smiled "If you allow me to suggest, Your Honor, I believe the best thing to do now would be to declare temporary arrestment for the defendant until the trial is resumed."

Another wave of protests from the Shepherds began. Morgan bit her lip; by the way the judge was grooming his beard she knew he was considering it. Lucina being put under arrest, even temporarily, was something she had to prevent at all costs not only because the princess didn't want (much less deserved) it, but this would also create a disadvantage for them; if the judge showed that he suspected her, then the part of the audience not composed of Shepherds (half of it) would begin to suspect her as well.

The greatest question was:

What could she do?

"Lucina…" Cynthia was nearly crying.

"Lucina, please, give attention to your sister." Morgan whispered to her client "She's getting very annoying…"

Lucina turned to look at her sister. For some reason, Cynthia had a pained expression and tears were rolling down her face.

"Cynthia? What's wrong?" The princess asked worried.

"My hand…" Cynthia weakly said.

"Uh? Your…"

Lucina looked at her sister's hand and nearly jumped at the sight. She wasn't just holding it; she was crushing it.

The princess was so nervous she kept pressing tighter and tighter until she nearly stopped the blood circulation in Cynthia's poor hand, causing a lot of suffering and her fingers to change to a weird color.

"Oh my gods! I'm so sorry!" Lucina whispered apologetically, finally freeing Cynthia from her hold. The younger princess dried some tears and moved her fingers a few times to ensure they were working properly.

"I'm so, SO sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"I-it's okay…" Cynthia tried to give Lucina a reassuring smile, but she was still feeling so much pain it became a 'I'm dying, but trying to look otherwise' smile, which, sincerely, didn't make her sister feel much better.

Morgan rolled her eyes. If Lucina could use all that strength to get rid of that situation the trial wouldn't take more than five minutes. Unfortunately, things didn't work like that and it couldn't be used at her favor. At least, it also couldn't be used against her.

" _Wait…"_

That simple thought made the gears in Morgan's head work again. Pieces of the testimonies came back in waves like flashbacks in a movie.

" _Something in the woods… Shadow… Hooded figure… Uncertain… Unsure… Time discrepancy… Inconsistency…"_

Then, a passage of the Ylissean Law Code, one she and Seiji had referred not long ago, appeared right before her.

 _Any evidence or testimony that gives room for doubts cannot be used for or against the defendant, unless its truthfulness is substantiated._

" _Used for or…"_ Morgan's eyes widened in realization _"Yes! That's it!"_

"I agree, Mr. Seiji." The judge announced after thinking about the prosecutor's statement "I believe that would be the better…"

"OBJECTION!"

All people present stared at Morgan in a mix of surprise and incredulity.

She objected the judge.

"Ms. Morgan?" The elderly man asked not angry or irritated, but amused at the attorney's sudden and bold move.

"I apologize for objecting you, Your Honor." Morgan said with a triumphant smile "But I happened to notice something we all overlooked."

Everyone began whispering and commenting about Morgan's statement. Even Seiji and the judge exchanged looks a bit surprised.

"Did we overlook something?" The judge asked "Well, if we did, please tell us what is that, Ms. Morgan. The last thing we want is to leave any fact uncovered."

" _What is she trying to do?"_ Seiji asked himself, for some reason feeling a bit nervous.

Seeing her rival becoming nervous again, Morgan giggled and proceeded to tell her discovery.

"A few moments ago, we cited the law number 341 of the Ylissean Law Code that clearly states any kind of witness or evidence that gives room for doubts can't be used for or against the defendant. Due to the inconsistency in Lucina's testimony and the others, all the facts narrated can't be used for her defense unless their truthfulness is proved, BUT…"

"But…" Seiji asked.

"If I remember well, Gerome and Cynthia saw a hooded figure whose clothes match my client's and a mysterious shadow coming out of the woods. Sumia claims to have been hit by something and letting the jam pots fall."

"What are you trying to say?" Seiji inquired a bit impatient.

"The time inconsistency turns Lucina's testimony doubtful, but it also turns the other testimonies doubtful. After all, we don't know when Sumia was hit or what hit her. We don't know if the pots breaking are the same thing Lucina heard. Even more, we don't know the specific time when Gerome and Cynthia saw the shadow. And the hooded figure?"

"It could be Lucina." The prosecutor stated.

"Can you prove it?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. He had no way to prove it.

"Not only that, but there are other unexplained things in these testimonies: the maniacal laugh, the sound of something cutting trees, something running… And if my memory doesn't fail me, you were using the pots from Sumia's testimony, the UFO cited in Cynthia and Gerome's testimony and many events of my client's testimony… In other words, evidence coming from DOUBTFUL testimonies."

She made a pause. The room was filled with silence as people were trying to understand what Morgan meant with all that. Seiji looked puzzled at her, wondering if she had lost her mind or something like that, but as her words were slowly registered and processed he felt a chill running down his spine.

" _No way…"_ He thought, sweat starting to run down his face like a river _"It can't be…"_

Maribelle noticed the boy's sudden nervousness and realized what Morgan had just done. Her eyes widened as she stared surprised and even a bit incredulous at the girl.

"Wait…" The judge also widened his eyes in surprise "But that would mean…"

Morgan slammed her hands on the table, got up and declared:

"That the evidence Seiji has been using to accuse my client are doubtful as well, thus turning them impossible to be used AGAINST her!"

"GAH!" Seiji felt like an arrow had pierced through his chest.

The court room was filled with noisy comments about Morgan's statement.

"T-there's still the crime scene…" Seiji said weakly.

"The crime scene?" Morgan rubbed her chin with a smirk "Let's think about it… Lucina was found unconscious near the merchant's wounded body surrounded by damaged trees. At first, it would seem like a fight happened, but one detail we all missed is: if Lucina indeed killed Nikolai, how she fainted?"

"T-there was a mark of his sword's hilt on the back of her head…"

"Yes, there was. However, if it was Nikolai who made her faint, how he did so? I mean, if Lucina attacked and killed him, how could he hit her if he was already dead? And if he hit her BEFORE dying, how he died afterwards if Lucina was unconscious and couldn't attack him?"

Seiji felt a knot in his stomach.

"In few words…" Morgan proceeded "The crime scene gives room for doubts as well, and as such can't be used to accuse my client."

"That's absurd! The crime scene was seen and registered by the authorities! Its truthfulness was proven!" Seiji shot back.

"I never said it wasn't." She smiled "I'm just saying there are too many unknown details related to it, and until these details are clarified, Lucina can't be put under temporary arrestment because of them."

The prosecutor gritted his teeth so much he risked breaking them.

"Not even the 'time discrepancy' you cited can be used for such purpose." Morgan added "There's no way to know if Lucina lied in her testimony because the other testimonies became doubtful as well. Actually…" She pointed an accusing finger at him "You admitted it yourself when you stated that if Lucina wasn't the one lying, then it would be one of the witnesses!"

"OBJECTION!" Seiji exclaimed, his face drenched in sweat "That was… Objectionable…"

" _By the gods! Did I really say it?!"_ He asked to himself, incredulous at how desperate he should be to say such a ridiculous thing.

The judge shook his head negatively.

"Objection overruled. Ms. Morgan speaks the truth and the Ylissean Law Code supports her statements."

Morgan smiled triumphantly while Seiji clenched his fists furiously. The judge thought about the situation for a few seconds and decided what to do.

"As I can see, both parts lack evidence to prove the defendant's innocence or guilt. Because of that, declaring temporary arrestment would be unfair as there's nothing concrete to prove she lied in her testimony. As such…" He looked to Lucina "The defendant can return to her home, but must remain in the Ylissean territory until the trial is resumed and return to the court for the next session. Disobeying this will result in immediate arrestment. Am I clear?"

Lucina was speechless. She could return home. The case wasn't over, but at least she could stay with her family.

"Yes, Your Honor." Warm tears fell from her eyes "I understood everything."

Cynthia hugged Lucina, her eyes also tearing up. The elderly man then proceeded.

"All facts revealed until now are dubious and raise more questions than answer, rendering them useless for the trial. Since we lack evidence to be used, witnesses to be summoned and time to proceed…" He thought a bit more about it and nodded, sure of his decision "I see no other option than to delay the trial. As such, it will be resumed tomorrow at five in the afternoon, in this same court room. Until then, both parts can do any investigation necessary to gather all evidence they need for the case. They are authorized by the Ylissean Court to access any archive or question any person if they respect the Ylissean Law Code and don't disturb the population or the daily routine of the Halidom." He turned his face to Morgan "Does the defense have any objection?"

"No, Your Honor. The defense agrees with your decision." She stated triumphant.

"And the prosecution?" He turned to Seiji.

The prosecutor didn't answer immediately; he was busy controlling his frustration and anger.

" _That… That little… Pesky… Inconsequent girl!"_ Seiji cursed in his mind _"She bested me! She bested me in my own game! How she managed to do that?! How she always finds a way to best me in everything?!"_

After taking a deep breath, Seiji calmed down and announced:

"No, Your Honor. The prosecution CAN'T disagree with your decision."

The judge nodded.

"In this case… We meet again tomorrow at five in the afternoon." He beat his hammer "Court adjourned!"

The Shepherds celebrated the judge's decision. Lucina looked to her attorney, her eyes shining in a mix of gratitude and admiration.

"Bow and call me Naga." Morgan whispered to the princess "I managed to make a miracle."

 **A bit later…**

Outside the court room, Morgan was surrounded by her friends who congratulated her for a job well done. Some had a few critics about specific parts (the 'frontal femininity' and the 'toilet invasion' parts for example), but all things considered her performance was very good for someone who never participated in a trial before.

After talking with a few more people, she saw Lucina with the other children and decided to join them.

"So, my friends…" She began, entering their circle "What were you talking about?"

"Morgan! That was amazing!" Cynthia praised "The way how you managed to turn the tables and prevent Lucina from being put in a cell until tomorrow… That was even better than when we fought those freaky necromancers near the Plegian boundary with all our heroic magnificence!"

"But wasn't the operation a humiliating failure?" Yarne asked to Brady, who just nodded.

"I admit your overall performance was better than expected for someone with no experience in trials." Laurent commented adjusting his glasses "But some of your actions and decisions were considerably unfortunate. For example, I don't think it would be…"

"Ignore him, Morgan!" Inigo stated, pushing the young Mage to the side and throwing him to the floor "You were spectacular! A delight to the audience's eyes!"

"Awww…" Morgan blushed slightly "If I didn't know you're just flirting, I would say it was very cute of you!"

"Thank you, my…" Inigo processed the first part of her sentence and became a bit offended "H-hey! I'm not flirting! This was a sincere…"

"In any case…" Severa interrupted pushing Inigo to the side and throwing him on Laurent "We all agree it was much better than expected. But sincerely, Morgan…" She frowned "Control your shenanigans. There were some moments we thought Lucina was going to be arrested because you were messing the trial too much."

"Hey! I wasn't messing the trial!" The Proxy retorted a bit offended "My methods are a bit particular, but that's all."

Severa rolled her eyes. That kind of 'particularity' was one which shouldn't exist anywhere in the universe.

"Morgan…"

The attorney turned to face the owner of the voice. It was her client, Lucina, who smiled tenderly at her.

"I have no words to express what I am feeling, but I think the best I can use now are… Thank you."

Morgan rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"Heh… You're welcome."

"I won't lie, I was a bit worried at first." Lucina admitted "You kind of… Exaggerated in some moments. And, made me a bit angry."

…

"A BIT angry."

…

"Very angry, actually…" She glared at her.

"Oh, come on! Are you still upset?" Morgan asked, a bit annoyed to know the princess hadn't forgotten what happened during her testimony.

"What do you think?" Lucina drily asked back.

"I already told you! It's not your fault you weren't gifted like some other girls! Besides, one could say your breasts growth is normal!"

Everyone raised an eyebrow.

"Normal?" Lucina asked.

"Yes! Since this year began, your breasts have grown at a considerably consistent rate!" She stated "Look at me, for example! My breasts were growing at a slow rate since last year, but out of a sudden they grew two inches in less than one month!"

All girls began to glare slightly jealous at Morgan, while the boys blushed and avoided eye contact.

"Hey! Why is everyone leering at me?" Morgan complained noticing her friends' reaction "What did I do wrong?"

"In alphabetical or chronological order?" Said an irritated voice coming from behind her.

Morgan turned around and saw Seiji with an annoyed face and his teeth gritted.

"Oh… Hello, pretty boy!" The girl began mockingly "How are you? Did I hurt you too much? Will you survive or the wounds in your pride were mortal?"

Seiji gave her a forced smile and laughed sarcastically.

"Yes, Morgan, laugh. Laugh while you can."

He gave her a glare that could open holes in steel.

"Truth be said, I may have underestimated your skills. I never expected you to best me in my own territory, but let me tell you one thing…" He got nearer her "This trial isn't over and I won't be bested again."

"Actually, you told me TWO things." She giggled.

The prosecutor huffed, turned around and walked away. Before he left, though, he turned around again and asked with a much softer expression:

"By the way, would you like to have dinner at home tonight? My mother wanted to invite you."

Everyone became surprised at the sudden change in the boy's attitude.

"Aw… That's adorable!" Morgan said using a high pitched little girl like voice "But I can't. The Special Operations Guard and the Ylissean Secret Service are holding a party tonight and I must attend. Tell your mother I'm sorry."

"Better for me…" Seiji announced nonchalant "At least I won't have to stand my parents spoiling you. Ugh… Why do they like you so much?"

"Who doesn't?" Morgan asked innocently.

Seiji rolled his eyes and finally left to attend to his own agenda. Morgan shook her head and turned to face her friends again… Only to see them all staring surprised at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Did he… Just invite you to have dinner at his place?" Inigo asked a bit harsher than he wanted.

"Yes. What's the matter?"

"But didn't you… I mean…" Noire tried to ask, but couldn't find the words to use.

"Huh? Oh!" Morgan understood what she meant and shook a hand dismissively "No! No! We're rivals and very competitive, but not enemies!"

"It didn't look like that by the way you two were arguing in the court…" The young Archer commented.

"We argue a lot because our opinions are very divergent. And he's kind of a jerk…"

"If he's a jerk, I don't know…" Severa then glanced at the distant figure of the prosecutor with a malicious smile "But he's pretty hunky. How did you meet him?"

"It reminds me..." Lucina looked to Morgan "Before the trial began, I also asked that. Could you answer it now? I have to admit I'm a bit curious as well."

"Oh! Sure! I promised to tell you! It's a funny story that even explains how I knew what to do in the trial despite never being in one before. The story begins a few years ago when…"

Morgan suddenly stopped, turned around and left the group. Her friends stared confused at her sudden action, wondering what had happened.

"Lucina!" They heard Sumia's voice calling for her daughter.

The princess turned around and saw her parents getting closer. That explained everything; Morgan was avoiding Sumia and Chrom at all costs after the unfortunate revelation she made in court. With them, some of the Shepherds were coming too.

"Lucina! My dear!" Sumia held her daughter's face with both hands "How are you?! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, mom. Don't worry." Lucina reassured.

Chrom approached and both parents gave her a warm smile. The case wasn't over, but knowing she had her family and her friends made some of her worry dissipate. Even the idea of having Morgan as her attorney didn't sound as bad as before.

Although it made her very worried at first…

 **Meanwhile…**

"Not to say about the mysterious shadow and the thing running in the woods." Morgan finished. She was on the phone, speaking with Robin and telling him all the details about the trial and the testimonies.

"So, what do you think, father?"

She didn't receive an answer immediately. Morgan couldn't see Robin, but knew he was processing the information, trying to find anything that didn't sound like a story told by a drunkard.

" _The evidence presented are dubious…"_ The Grandmaster began _"The testimonies have a time discrepancy… Most facts seem to be completely random events…"_

She heard him scratching his head.

" _Sincerely, Morgan… The story is very confusing. Many things don't make sense."_

"I know!" The Proxy stated "There's so many things unexplained and I have a bad feeling it's just the tip of the iceberg!"

She scratched the back of her head.

"What do you think has happened that night?"

No answer. The silence was making her nervous.

" _As Grandmaster of Ylisse and your father… I am forced to admit I have no idea."_ Robin admitted embarrassed.

Morgan sighed disappointed. If even her father had no clue of what happened in the night of the crime, then things were getting ugly.

Very ugly.

"And what do you suggest I do?"

Silence. She pictured her father rubbing his chin, eyes closed and mind working.

" _Since the judge delayed the trial and you can run investigations until it's resumed tomorrow…"_ Robin began _"I think the best thing to do now is to check everything the witnesses have related. There are lots of places to go, though… I don't think you can do it alone."_

"Don't worry. I can call the Elite Trio to help me and find someone else to cover the rest." Morgan assured.

" _In that case, I believe all you have to do now is organize an investigation team and… Well, investigate. Really, Morgan… You're doing pretty well for a first time and there isn't much I have to tell you. I'm very proud."_

"Oh, father…" She blushed slightly and played with a lock of hair "You made me blush…"

" _I want to be there to see it._ " He said playfully.

"Oh! By the way, how are the vacations going?" Morgan changed the subject.

" _Good. We saw many beautiful places, met nice people and had some superb meals. The only thing I have to complain now is your mother getting addicted to hunting monsters."_

"Where are you two now?"

" _Some village called… I forgot the name now, but it's very oriental styled and has some great hot springs."_

"Oh! Know what you're talking about! That place is beautiful!" Morgan said a bit jealous of her parents being there while she had to work.

" _Indeed. I wish you could be here with us."_

"Me too." She admitted "Hey! Did you see the Zinogre?"

" _Actually…"_

Robin was interrupted by the sound of electricity, a blade cutting something and a furious roar.

" _Robin, are you going to help me or not?"_ Morgan heard her mother's voice in the background.

" _Just a moment, Aversa. I have to go, your mother needs help."_

"No problem!" Morgan then remembered something "Oh! And don't forget to…"

" _Morgan, for the third time: I won't get a Yian Garuga for you."_

"Awww… Why not?!" Morgan complained "I'll take care of it! I promise! I'll feed it… Take it to walk… Bath it… Clean any dirt it makes… I'll even clean any pool of poison it may leave behind!"

" _Morgan, no means no."_

"But why not?!" She exclaimed.

" _Ecological disaster."_ Robin simply stated.

The girl opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by something that sounded like an Arcthunder hitting a rock and a furious roar.

" _ROBIN!"_ Aversa yelled angrily in the background.

" _I'm coming! I must go now or it is not the Zinogre who will kill me. Bye dear, love you."_

"Bye…" Morgan replied, still disappointed for having her request rejected.

She ended the call and was about to pocket her phone when it trembled and made a beep. Morgan looked at the screen and saw a message notification. She opened the message and read it. It was a very short one that simply said:

"Meet me in front of the toilets."

She looked at the sender and became a bit surprised.

" _Brady?"_

 **Meanwhile, in a not too distant hall…**

The Shepherds were talking nonstop about the trial. Some commented about Morgan's performance, some about Seiji being a prickly and a few others about the revealing information the young attorney accidentally revealed.

"I think we all underestimated Morgan." Maribelle commented "I mean, she's unique in many ways and even a bit… Inconvenient… But she clearly inherited her father's genius."

"In a way, she's like Robin." Stahl added "If Robin was crazy, that is…" He murmured the last part to himself.

"You know what? Maybe Morgan can serve as inspiration for future lawyers." Maribelle turned to face Brady "Right, dear?"

Brady didn't notice his mother speaking with him. He had his back turned to her and was doing something only he knew what.

"Brady?"

"GAH!" Brady jumped, turned around and quickly put his hands behind his back.

"S-sorry, Ma!" He stuttered "W-what were we talkin' about again?"

Maribelle glared suspiciously at him.

"What are you hiding there?" She pointed to him.

"W-where?" Sweat began to run down his face.

"Behind you."

"Ah…"

All gazes turned at him, making Brady feel extremely uncomfortable. His eyes darted around, while everyone kept looking at him.

"Ah…"

"I'm waiting for an answer." Maribelle drily demanded.

Brady sighed; there was clearly no way to escape that, but before he admitted anything, there was one little thing he wanted to ask:

"Ya won't be angry?"

"Depends."

Brady took his right hand from his back and showed everyone what he was holding. It was a small flat object that looked like Morgan's smartphone, but a bit smaller and in a different color.

"Wait…" Chrom recognized the object "It's one of the smart-whatever things Morgan has!"

"An Outrealm object?!" Maribelle said surprised "Since when do you have that, mister?!" She looked at Brady with a severe look.

The boy sighed again.

"Countin' today… I probably have this for… I dunno, maybe seven months…"

"SEVEN MONTHS?! AND NO WORD OF IT TO YOUR MOTHER?!" Maribelle scolded indignant, making the boy back a few steps.

"Maribelle…" Libra positioned himself protectively in front of Brady "I understand you're angry, but I sincerely believe this object isn't enough of a reason to…"

"I'M NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SMARTPHONE!" Maribelle didn't let Libra finish "CAN'T YOU SEE, LIBRA?! HE LIED TO US! OUR OWN SON!"

"H-hey! I didn't lie! I… Omitted."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO, MISTER!"

"Maribelle, calm down!" Cordelia tried to control the angry Valkyrie "Libra is right. That's not enough of a…"

Before she could finish, a music began playing from nowhere. Everyone looked around for the source of the sound and noticed it was coming from Severa's pocket.

The girl blushed slightly, angrily took a red smartphone that was much bigger than Brady's from her pocket, tapped it and grumbled:

"Which part of 'I can't answer right now' you didn't understand?!"

She tapped it again and quickly pocketed it, her face rivaling her mother's hair.

"Ok, miss! What's the meaning of that?!" Cordelia inquired.

"You protect him, but scold me?! That's unfair!" Severa complained.

"If this helps…" Brady said "She got hers only a few days ago."

"It doesn't matter." Frederick said "You also have some explaining to do, miss."

"Oh, really? Well, if I'm going down, I won't go alone!" She got her smartphone, tapped it a few times then pocketed it again.

…

"What did ya do?" Brady asked.

"You'll see."

Suddenly, music began to play again, this time coming from Noire, Owain and Cynthia.

"Gah! Why did you do that?!" Owain desperately took his smartphone and tried to silence it.

"No! No! Turn off! Turn off!" Cynthia tapped her phone nonstop.

"INSOLENT! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS BETRAYAL!" Noire, in her maniacal self, yelled while trying to silence her phone as well.

The whole place was filled with an awkward silence.

"Huh…" Noire, back at normal, began nervously "We… We can explain…"

"Even you, Cynthia?!" Chrom asked incredulous.

"Huh… Ah… You know… Morgan… She… Then…" She was completely lost.

"No… Better question…" He glared at her "How did you pay for that?!"

After Chrom mentioned it, the other parents gave their children a stern look.

"Well… You see…" Cynthia laughed nervously "It was… Like… LUCINA ALSO ASKED FOR ONE!" The younger princess pointed an accusing finger at her sister.

"WHAT?!" Lucina was left jaw dropped.

"AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO DOESN'T HAVE ONE ALSO ASKED FOR A SMARTPHONE TO MORGAN!"

"Eek! Why did you do that?!" Yarne yapped.

"I don't know! I don't know! I acted on instinct! I'm so sorry!" Cynthia cried.

A noisy mess began in the hall. All parents demanded explanations while the children tried to defend themselves.

"So… You have been a naughty girl, Noire?" Tharja asked.

"I… Uh…"

The Sorceress smiled.

"Not the worst thing in the world, but you have the family's blood…"

"Yeah! We're pretty naughty, so you probably would be too! Nya ha ha!" Henry laughed.

"Mother… Father…"

"Ah… Great…" Severa complained to herself "We are troubled, but she's going to escape…"

"How could you do this, Owain?! Lying to your own mother! Aren't you ashamed?!" Lissa was furiously pulling her son's ear.

"Ouch! Mom, please! I won't do it anymore!"

"Lon'qu! Don't be all quiet there! Say something!"

The Swordmaster stared at his son for a few moments and simply said:

"Just don't do it again."

Silence. No one could believe Lon'qu had only that to say. Even Owain was surprised by how well his father was taking it.

"WHAT?! ONLY THAT?!" Lissa asked indignant.

"Lissa, Owain hid this from us and that was wrong, but like Libra said I don't believe this object is reason enough to punish him."

"What?! Are you going to defend him?! After what he did?!" Lissa simply couldn't understand why her husband was being so complacent.

"Listen, I just think…"

Before he could finish, another music began to play, this time coming from his pocket. Lon'qu blushed slightly, took a smartphone even bigger than Severa's, tapped it and said:

"Robin, this isn't a good time… I'll call you later."

He pocketed the object and the place was filled with another awkward silence.

"I…" He began insecure "I can explain…"

"YOU BETTER CAN!" Lissa yelled at him.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down everyone!" Stahl tried to prevent another discussion to begin "We shouldn't be arguing because of that! Besides, you guys shouldn't be so worried about those technologies from the Outrealms! Let's be more simple, without those smart-whatever things or computers or anything like that! Like Donnel! He lives in a farm and doesn't need those things! Right, Donny?"

Donnel didn't hear Stahl; he was too busy tapping his own phone to pay attention.

"Uh? Oh, sorry! I was speakin' with Ma!" He pocketed the object "What did I lose?"

"Just… Ah… Forget it."

Another discussion began. Some guards nearby noticed the noise, but had no idea of what they were talking about and decided to let them solve the problem alone. Brady noticed no one was paying attention to him anymore and took the chance to slowly escape to the toilets.

 **In front of the toilets…**

" _Sheesh! He asks me to come here and I'm the one who has to wait…"_ Morgan thought to herself while tapping her foot.

She heard steps and turned to see who was coming. It was Brady.

"What took you so long?" The girl complained.

"Sorry… I had a lil'… Inconvenience." He scratched his head awkwardly.

"Whatever… What did you need to tell me so urgently?"

The boy sighed. From where should he begin?

"Before that…" Morgan interrupted his thoughts "Let me ask: it was you who put this in the folder?" She showed him the message.

Brady nodded.

"Gods! Your handwriting is horrible! No wonder your mother forces you to study so much!"

"Hey! It's not my fault, 'kay?!" Brady retorted a bit embarrassed "I was in a hurry to put it in the folder before Ma noticed! And the pen was broken…"

"Of course it was…" Morgan rolled her eyes "In any case, what is so urgent you needed to put a message in the folder and send me another by phone?"

Brady scratched the back of his head. It wasn't going to be easy to tell it, but Morgan was the case's attorney and, consequently, was the better person he could tell that.

"It's about… Ma and Chrom."

Morgan was taken by surprise. Maribelle and Chrom? Could it be about…?

"What do you mean?" She wasn't sure, so it would be better to let Brady continue.

He sighed.

"Yesterday, maybe nine in the morning or somethin' like that, Chrom came home. The man was pantin' and desperately asked Ma to be Lucina's attorney. Ma accepted and he left. Nothin' wrong 'til then. Some hours later, he came back and said Ma didn't need anymore because Robin would come back and be the attorney."

"That's what made you…?"

"Nah… Not exactly. I mean, Robin is Chrom's best buddy, so we…"

"Dismissed it as like Chrom wanted someone of trust to take care of Lucina, right?"

He shook his head positively.

"If that was everythin' that happened, then I wouldn't mind, but then he made a weird request."

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"A weird request?" She asked.

"He asked Ma to keep gatherin' information 'bout the case. I wondered why, since Robin has free access to the Ylissean archives and all."

Morgan rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. At that moment, she realized something: the reason Maribelle had so much information was because Robin wouldn't have time to check the archives if he was going to return only in the day of the trial. As such, Chrom took a precaution and asked her to keep gathering information for him to use. In other words, nothing wrong with that.

"Actually, that request makes sense. Father was supposed to return only today, so he wouldn't have time to…"

"That's what Ma said to me when I asked why Chrom did such a thing." Brady interrupted "I believed in that 'til before the trial, when you arrived and said you'd be Lucina's defense. Chrom was terrified by the idea."

"Oh… Was he?" Morgan scoffed indignant "Good to know who trusts me and who doesn't. I'll remember that next time I have to choose who will clean the castle's toilets."

"No offense, but we all thought it was 'cause of your… Peculiarities…"

"I'll pretend to have never heard it." She said drily.

"In any case…" Brady proceeded before HE became the one who would clean the toilets "Chrom was so terrified he even asked if Ma couldn't take your place."

Morgan gritted her teeth. The Exalt was surely getting on her nerves.

"I know he did it because Ma told me in the court. That was a bit before she gave the folder to him, then to ya."

"I see Chrom is a little piece of sh…" Morgan had to use all her self-control to hold the words in her throat. After calming down, she asked:

"Except for that little detail, I can't see anything wrong with his actions. What exactly is troubling you so much?"

Brady sighed. If Morgan didn't notice it, then it could be just him overthinking the situation, but in any case…

"Morgan, let's review everythin'. Chrom came to home, asked Ma to be Lucina's defense, leaves, then comes back and says she didn't anymore 'cause Robin would take the role. Why?"

"Because he's his best friend." Morgan guessed.

"Then, he asks Ma to keep gathering information."

"Because father wouldn't have time."

"Then, before the trial, he asks Ma to become the attorney."

"Right…"

"Then he gives ya the folder."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. Where exactly was he trying to get?

"Don't ya think it's too random? He wants Robin to be the attorney, but his actions make clear he knows Ma is more suited for the situation. Then, when you arrive, he tries to turn Ma the attorney, but gives you the information SHE got."

The girl widened her eyes in surprise. He was right; Chrom's actions didn't make sense. If he asked Maribelle to be Lucina's defense, then why did he ask for Robin to take her place later?  
Even more, if he asked the Valkyrie to take the defense when the trial was about to begin, then he knew she was suited for the case, but choose someone else instead and didn't change his mind even after remembering Robin was out.

Simply dismissing it as Chrom wanting Robin because he was his best friend now sounded like a very badly made excuse. Not only that, but he never mentioned to Morgan he asked Maribelle first. The closest thing to it he ever mentioned was:

"I know Robin in no attorney or something like that, but he knows diplomacy and is very good at analyzing information."

She thought it was a good reason at first, but after listening to Brady's story that line sounded extremely fishy. Like he was trying to avoid something.

"Aside from that…" Brady interrupted her thoughts "Since the night of the crime, Yarne and Nah have been actin' very weird."

"Yarne and Nah?" Morgan asked.

"Yarne's been much more scared than normally. He's constantly lookin' back, spyin' with the corner of his eyes and glued to some of us."

"Some of you?"

"Some of us, because he's avoidin' the girls."

Avoiding the girls? Why specifically the girls?

"And Nah's been in a bad mood. She hasn't said a single word 'til now and keeps poutin' every time."

"Why are they acting like that?" The Proxy asked confused.

Brady raised his shoulders.

"I dunno. Nobody does. They don't tell."

If the case wasn't enough to make Morgan confused, now she had these other things to worry about. She grew even more suspicious of Chrom and now the young Manakete and the coward Taguel were also behaving abnormally. She wondered if her father had aspirin left in their home, because she would probably need it.

"Do ya think it may be related to the case?" Brady asked "I mean, it involves Lucina's defense and they began actin' weird after the night of the crime."

Morgan mused for a few moments. She didn't have the answer.

"It may or may not be." She simply stated "There's no way to know yet. It's like the evidence shown in the court; it leaves too much room for doubts and speculation."

Both remained silent. Each second, that story was becoming more confusing.

"I gotta go now." Brady announced "They probably noticed my absence and I don't wanna make Ma even angrier."

"Forgive me for asking, but why is she angry at you?"

"Can I tell ya later?" Brady looked to be a bit worried, so Morgan agreed with a nod.

"Ok, then. See you later. If you discover something else, you know my number."

Brady said a quick goodbye and left. Morgan leaned against the wall rubbing her chin processing everything she heard and planning what to do.

Were these things worth investigating? Like she said before, it could be related to the case, but maybe not. If it was, then many crucial facts could be revealed. If it wasn't, then it would be just a waste of time and she had absolutely no time to waste; she needed every second available to look for evidence, or the trial in the following day would be a disaster.

She had to make a hard decision. To put or not to put efforts in these things? That was the question.

Morgan bit the tip of her little finger, pictured all possible scenarios and made her mind. She got her phone, tapped it a few times and placed it near her ear.

" _Hello?"_ A deep voice answered.

"Hello? Maggot?"

" _Madam Morgan, what a pleasure to hear your voice. How can I be of your utility?"_

"Are you and your boys going to the party tonight?" Morgan asked.

" _We plan to."_

"Good. I have something to ask you. A special service. Are you interested?"

" _We would gladly do anything you want. Your wish is an order."_ He gently answered.

"Okay, I'll tell you three the details at the party. By the way, I need you to call some people for me."

" _Sure. Just tell me the names."_

Morgan took a deep breath.

"Gangrel, Walhart, Emmeryn, Priam and Yen'fay."

Was it a good idea? She didn't know, but she knew one thing: her answer would come in the next day.

The day of the investigation.

 **To be continued…**

 _What is Chrom hiding? What happened to Yarne and Nah? What is the truth behind the testimonies? And did Morgan made a good decision or the Spotpass characters will make things even worse?_

 _To discover this and much more, stay tuned for the next chapter of:_

 _(Quickly checks script)_

 _Morgan: Ace Attorney!_

 _Now, the author notes:_

 _First thing: I would like to apologize again for the delay. I tried to update this story in one week like I did with the first three chapters, but the extra amount of content I used now took me more time than expected. The next chapters will be just as long, if not longer, so I may not be able to keep updating it every seven days. I apologize for this little inconvenient._

 _Second thing: I would also like to apologize for chapter three, because… Well, let's be sincere, it was trash. It was rushed, badly written, full of grammar mistakes and… Trash._

 _I could go on and complain a lot about all the reasons chapter three is (at least for now) the black sheep of this story and even make a whole fanfiction about it, but since it would be extremely boring to write and much more to read, I will make it short and simply state what caused it:_

 _Stress, nervousness, hurry and my stupid low self-esteem which decided to plague the whole week I used for writing. It's no excuse for a bad chapter, though, and that's why I want to apologize._

 _Third thing: For some unknown reason, I changed the 'Witness Stand' from the original games for a 'Witness Seat' in this story. I only noticed it after reading chapter three again and have been asking myself why I did it. It's a minor detail that makes little to no difference at all, but I just wanted to say I noticed this little slip of my part. Maybe I wanted to be nice to them and allowed the witnesses to sit instead of standing up XD_

 _Now, for the reviews:_

 _slightlyabovehuman: Yes, I went overboard on the humor… I apologize for that. I was so worried to update the chapter my critical sense stopped to work for a moment and I let it happen. I'll make my best to be more careful from now on._

 _Aside from the 'evidence' and the 'interdiction', I noticed the English errors while reading the chapter a third time, and not only the ones you cited, but some others as well. I simply can't understand how I overlooked it all. Man, I was so embarrassed I wanted to stick my head in the oven…_

 _Of course I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't be here now :p_

 _On another hand, I didn't know 'interdiction' was so specific. That's good to know, thank you for telling me._

 _The 'evidence', though… Usually my grammar corrector warns me about that kind of thing, but apparently, it overlooked that detail as well. Seems like I wasn't the only one having a bad day XD_

 _That's all I had to say, but since I'm already wasting your time with my thoughts, let me abuse your kindness a bit more and make a question that has been plaguing me since chapter two:_

 _What are your opinions about Seiji? I mean, it's not like I'm going to cut or replace him at this point in the story, but I was wondering if I should have put someone else in his place. I won't lie, he was created mostly to be a nuisance to Morgan and someone to mirror the prosecutors from Ace Attorney (more specifically Edgeworth), but I am not sure if he's a good character or not and that's why I'm asking this now._

 _Well, enough for today!_

 _Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter!_


	5. Misadventures of CSI Morgan

_Sorry for the long delay, I had lots of problems with this chapter. You know, creative blocks, lack of inspiration, life problems and other things. It also didn't help that I remade half of the story._

 _But finally, it's here! I hope it was worth the wait._

 _So, now to the story!_

 _Of course, before anything else…_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Fire Emblem and everything related to it belong to Nintendo. Any other characters or franchises mentioned in this story belong to their respective creators. I only own this story and the characters created for it. If anyone told you otherwise… They lied!_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 5: Misadventures of CSI Morgan**

 **In front of Ylisse's Castle, September 25** **th** **, 05:50 AM**

"Morgan… Was this really necessary?" Severa complained with a yawn.

"Of course! We have no time to waste!" Morgan pumped a fist in the air.

"But it's five in the morning!"

"No, it's five fifty." Morgan corrected "It's written up there."

"I don't care! It's much earlier than I usually wake up! Look at the sky! It's still dark!"

Like Severa said, the sky was dark blue, with only a few lazy rays of sunlight appearing shyly in the horizon. The air was cold, stars shone in the infinite darkness of space and the moon would continue to bathe the world below it with its silver light for a few more minutes until the sun appeared.

Most people from the capital were getting up, taking a bath, having breakfast or changing for another day of hard work. The other part was still enjoying their warm blankets and comfy beds until the time to start their monotone routines began.

"Why couldn't we wait until seven or eight?" Severa complained for the fourth time while rubbing her sore eyes "I bet there's no one up now!"

"Wrong! There are people awaken right now!" Morgan announced.

"Oh, really?" The Mercenary asked dryly "Who?"

"Us!" The other girl answered, earning a glare from Severa.

"Huh… Sorry to interrupt you two, but…" Inigo gave Morgan a worried look "I think a better question would be: why did you call THEM?" The boy pointed to the curious group nearby.

Not too far away, Walhart, Yen'fay, Emmeryn, Priam and Gangrel were busy taking care of their own business.

The former Conqueror kept a serious and stoic face, spoke very little and remained in his usual posture, holding his sword with both hands with its blade stuck in the ground. The Swordmaster also spoke little, but unlike Walhart it was because of his reserved personality. The former Exalt was the most social of them, always smiling and talking (or at least trying) to everyone. Gangrel had his arms crossed and was clearly in a bad mood. Priam was doing push ups for some reason.

"I hate to admit, but Inigo is right… Why did you call them?" Severa asked.

"Worry not, my dear friends! I had good reasons!" Morgan stated.

" _Or at least I hope they are good enough to justify this…"_ She added apprehensive in her thoughts.

"Hey! Girl!" Gangrel called irritated for Morgan "You took us out of bed at this hour for which reason? We've been standing here for thirty minutes doing nothing!"

"First, you know why we're here." The Proxy said annoyed "Second, it hasn't been thirty minutes, it was fifteen at most."

"Whatever…" The mad king grumbled.

"Third, none of you had anything important to do anyway. You don't have any jobs, so being here or not would make little to no difference."

"Are you calling me a hobo?" Gangrel scowled with a menacing glare.

"No, I'm calling you jobless." Morgan answered with a mischievous smile which made the man angrier.

"And last, but not least, your efforts to help Lucina will be generously rewarded with a fat payment. A FAT PAYMENT. Like, in the fatness levels of a Snorlax!"

Everyone gave Morgan a confused look.

"Let's just say a Snorlax is a very fat creature, so fat it would put Excellus to shame." She explained.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Severa interrupted "Are you going to pay them for this?"

Morgan nodded.

"And what about me?!"

"You and Inigo will receive a generous 50% raise in your bonuses." Morgan stated. The simple mention of a bigger bonus made Severa rub her hands anxiously.

For anyone who doesn't know, the bonus Morgan referred to is a reward system Robin implemented a few months after the defeat of Grima. The concept is very simple: if you do more than your duty or have a better performance with your responsibilities than in the last month, you receive a 30% raise in your payment. Of course, your bonus can be confiscated if you give any reason for that, which means you will receive it only in the following month with a 50% decrease.

"What are we waiting for?!" Severa's tiredness suddenly disappeared like it never existed "Let's begin the investigation! The sooner we finish, the sooner I'll get my b… I mean, we'll prove Lucina's innocence!"

"That's the magic of the bonus!" Morgan declared "But there are still people to arrive. We better wait for them."

"Really?" Inigo asked.

"Yep! Although I admit it's a bit weird they haven't arrived yet." Morgan took her phone and gave a quick look at the time "We agreed to meet here at the same time you all arrived, but it's already five fifty-seven and no sign of them."

"Who are you talking about?" Gangrel inquired.

Before Morgan could answer, three clouds of a darkish purple smoke appeared from nowhere and began spiraling. All people present, except for Morgan and Emmeryn, unsheathed their weapons and took battle stance.

The clouds slowly dissipated and revealed three curious figures. The one in the middle was a very tall and slender man with rectangular glasses wearing a purple version of the Grandmaster coat. He had a tired expression, emotionless eyes and long black hair. The man to his right seemed to be in his early twenties, had a messed brown hair, a carefree expression and wore black pants with a sleeveless gray shirt that revealed his strong arms. The third figure was a boy, probably eighteen or nineteen years old, with an innocent expression, big blue eyes and messed white hair who wore a long black tunic and was a few inches shorter than Morgan.

"We apologize for the delay." The tall man said politely.

"Ah… I was getting worried." The girl then turned to look at her friends and noticed they had their weapons pointed at the trio "Hey, hey… Put the weapons down. These are the guys we were waiting for."

Morgan then noticed something and smiled mischievously.

"Oooh… Gangreeeel… I don't think Chrom would like to see that…" She said teasingly.

Gangrel looked confused for a moment, but quickly noticed what Morgan was talking about: he put himself defensively in front of Emmeryn without noticing it.

"Gah!" The man grumbled, putting his sword back in the sheath and stepping aside.

After the former king of Plegia sheathed his sword, the others did the same, but kept a suspicious look on the three newcomers.

"Morgan, who are they?" Severa asked analyzing the three figures.

"Oh, yes! Where are my manners? You were never presented to them before." Morgan then walked nearer to the trio and began presenting them.

"They are three of the best agents of the Ylissean Secret Service, collectively known as the Elite Trio." She pointed to the tall man "This is General Heinrick, better known as 'Maggot'." She then pointed to the young man to his right "This is Lieutenant General Ivankov, better known as 'Tick'." She then pointed to the boy "And this little one is Captain Boulevard, better known as 'Flea'."

"Such lovely names…" Severa muttered to herself.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Maggot bowed.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Tick said informally.

"Hello, everyone." Flea waved.

"They're the ones who sent the letters inviting you to the investigation team and meet me here. By the way…" Morgan turned to the older man "Tell me: what took you three so long?"

Maggot rubbed the back of his head and simply said:

"We had a… Little inconvenience."

"Flea had to answer nature's call." Tick said pointing to the smaller boy.

"Shut up before I stab you." Flea threatened with a glare.

Everyone felt a drop of sweat running down their faces. If these three were some the best agents of the Secret Service, then they didn't want to know who were the worst.

"Well, since everyone is here, let's start this investigation!" Morgan declared enthusiastic "But before, we better review the plan. Make a circle here, everyone!"

They positioned themselves into a circle and Morgan began explaining the details of the investigation.

"Although Severa and Inigo already know this and I gave the rest a quick explanation in the letters I sent you or in the party yesterday, I'll take the freedom to repeat the facts: the trial was delayed because of dubious evidence and testimonies, thus granting the defense and the prosecution a chance to investigate. To confirm or deny what the witnesses said, we must go to all places they went, question anyone who may have seen them or what they did and look for any kind of overlooked detail or evidence. Since there's a lot to be done, I called you all to help me."

"Right, and what do we do now?" Inigo asked.

"Simple." Morgan answered "We'll divide into pairs and each pair goes to a different location look for evidence. This way, we maximize our chances of finding new data for the case. The Elite Trio will be the only exception, as they will go as a trio."

Morgan took some papers out of her coat.

"These papers have details of where you have to go, what you must look for and pieces of the testimonies related to said places. I took the freedom to choose the pairs and what you must do. If someone has any objection, you better say now."

She then got the first sheet of paper.

"Yen'fay, Walhart, I designated you two to investigate parts of Lucina's, Cynthia's and Gerome's testimonies, specifically the wolf rumors, the shadow coming out of the woods and the mysterious figure. The better place to ask about these things is in the village. The stalls used for the festival weren't dismounted because it will last until tonight, so you two will find all the merchants and sellers still there."

Both men gave her a confused look.

"I know, it sounds horribly random, but read the report and you'll understand what I'm talking about." Morgan handed them the paper.

They exchanged a look then nodded.

"Understood." Yen'fay said getting the report.

"As you wish." Walhart added.

"Emmeryn…" Morgan turned to face the woman "I understand your condition and don't want to force you, so all you have to do is ask around the village for any sightings of a flying object, be it a Pegasus Knight, a bird or anything like that. If anyone has a clue, question them and investigate it if possible." She gave her the report.

"Right… I understand…" Emmeryn answered getting the paper.

"Gangrel…" Morgan turned to the red-haired man "Go with Emmeryn and take care of her."

"What?!" He asked incredulous.

"Maggot, Tick and Flea…" She looked at the Elite Trio "You know what to do."

"Yes, madam."

"Count on us, boss!"

"Okeydokey."

Severa and Inigo exchanged a confused look. Morgan's statement meant she had already given them orders before the group reunited, but why would she do such a thing? And why didn't she repeat it? The only reason they could think was their role being secretive, but couldn't guess what would need such discretion in that investigation.

"Now, Inigo…" She turned to the boy.

"Huh?"

"You'll go with…"

Inigo's eyes shone with hope.

"Priam."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" He was jaw dropped.

"You two will investigate the woods. Look for sword marks, broken branches, glass, jam… In other words, anything that can confirm the testimonies." Morgan then turned to Severa, apparently unaware of Inigo's crushed hopes and tearful eyes "Severa, you come with me. We'll look for the little girl Lucina cited in her testimony."

The mercenary just nodded.

"Very well, any objections?"

Gangrel opened his mouth to protest about his partner, but Inigo was faster and cut him before the man could say a single word.

"Morgan, I don't doubt your choices or anything like that, but don't you think it would be better if you went with someone else? I mean, SOMEONE else?" He asked, making sure the last part stood out.

The girl rubbed her chin and thought about his statement.

"You know what? I think you're right." She declared "In this case, I'll go with…"

Inigo's eyes shone with hope… Again.

"Priam."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"Severa, you go with Inigo." Morgan said apparently ignoring the boy's reaction. Severa looked at the jaw dropped Inigo and sighed.

"Any other objection?" The Proxy asked, which prompted Gangrel to try complaining once more.

"Very well! Then we start the investigation now!" Morgan cut him, making Gangrel hiss at her "We meet again in this same place at eleven! I expect a good job from all of you!" Morgan turned around and waved to Priam "Come on, let's go!"

The man nodded, bid goodbye to the others and followed Morgan. Maggot said a few more things to Tick and Flea before the three disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving Yen'fay, Walhart, Severa, Emmeryn, an angry Gangrel and a heartbroken Inigo.

"Is it just me or that little girl's choices were way too 'convenient'?" Gangrel grumbled to no one in specific. He had a point though; Morgan made the most improbable combinations possible: everything that happened to Yen'fay was Walhart's fault in a way, Severa clearly disliked Inigo, who made very clear he wanted to be with SOMEONE else and Gangrel and Emmeryn….

No comments.

"Ok, who wants to trade partners?" The former king asked turning around only to notice all the others had already left him and Emmeryn alone.

" _What the…? They left me with HER?!"_ He thought irritated and looked at the former Exalt, who just smiled warmly at him.

"Gah!" He grumbled turning his face away.

 **Main square of Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 06:24 AM**

The day had just begun, but the main square was already bursting with sounds, smells and noises coming from the stalls and the people shopping when Yen'fay and Walhart arrived, so they decided to begin the questioning immediately.

"I'll go to that side. You can cover the other." The Conqueror simply said. Most people would consider his tone authoritarian or even repressive, but Yen'fay knew it was his usual way to speak and simply nodded in agreement, turned around and left.

Although it wasn't exactly the reason they decided to split up, staying away from each other would prevent awkward situations due to their history together.

Yen'fay, specially that Yen'fay from another time, had no grudge against Walhart because he considered the death of his Say'ri to be his own fault and THAT Walhart had nothing to do with it, but that thought alone wasn't enough to make the whole situation of standing at his side less uncomfortable.

The Conqueror wasn't in a much better situation; one could say he was feeling even more uncomfortable than his partner. He didn't regret everything he did during his campaign of conquest in Valm, but the episode involving Yen'fay and his sister was something he would change if the chance ever appeared. Knowing that Swordmaster wasn't the same he met didn't help much. In a way, knowing the other him from that Yen'fay's timeline was responsible for Say'ri's death made everything even more awkward.

Because of that, splitting up would make the whole thing at least bearable and had the good side effect of increasing their chances of discovering something.

Or at least it WOULD increase their chances of discovering something if Yen'fay spoke in a volume people could hear and Walhart spoke in a volume he wouldn't scare everyone away.

"Excuse me, sir…" The Swordmaster tried to call a man's attention, but he was so distracted talking with a friend he didn't notice Yen'fay.

"Miss, may I make a question?" He then tried to speak with a woman, but she and her son seemed to be very entertained by their talk and didn't even imagine he was there.

"Sorry to interrupt, but could you…" He then tried to speak with some teenagers nearby, but a man some stalls away began screaming:

"Sweet potatoes! Sweet potatoes! Buy five and pay for two!"

And even though there was a good distance between them, his voice completely covered Yen'fay's.

Meanwhile, not far away…

"W-w-w-w-what do you w-w-w-want?!" A young man stuttered looking horrified at the enormous armored figure in front of him.

"I just want to make a question, so stop stuttering!" Walhart scolded.

"W-w-what would you like t-t-to know, sir?! I-i-is it related to something here?! I didn't do anything!" The man raised his hands in innocence.

"It's not about you!"

"D-d-do you need something?! Is it money?! You can have my money!" He then took some gold coins from his pocket.

"I don't want your money!"

"You can keep my bag too! I don't need it anymore!" He then handed him his bag.

"STOP THIS! FOR THE LAST TIME, I JUST WANT…"

"You can have my shovel too! And my shoes! And my shirt! Just… Just…" He then ran away screaming:

"JUST DON'T HURT MEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Walhart snorted irritated.

"What's wrong with the people of this village?!" He asked himself, making some people nearby run away.

Unknown to the Conqueror and the Swordmaster, a crow observed their moves from the top of a statue of Emmeryn. The bird tilted its head a few times, eyes locked on the two figures, analyzing and hearing everything they did.

The crow then set flight to somewhere else.

 **Main square of Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 6:33 AM**

Not too far from the Swordmaster and the Conqueror, Gangrel and Emmeryn were also walking in the crowd and questioning people. Or at least Emmeryn was TRYING to question people.

Gangrel's chances to successfully question anyone were near inexistent as people were avoiding him at all costs whenever they recognized his face. No one called the guards, though, because Gangrel becoming a part of the Shepherds was public knowledge, which didn't mean they were willing to be civil with him, but in a way, it was what the former king of Plegia wanted; at least he didn't have to be social or gentle, leaving as his only responsibility to guard the former Exalt like the Grandmaster's little pest of a daughter ordered him.

That little responsibility was testing his patience, though. Emmeryn was supposed to ask people if they saw anything flying near the village in the night of the crime, but whenever anyone noticed her they would come, greet the woman and start to shower her with compliments, ask for her prayers or give her presents.

Worse: she was too kind to cut them and do what she was supposed to.

Even worse: Gangrel was the one who had to carry all the presents they were giving her because Emmeryn 'wasn't in condition to carry weight' and the pile of stuff was getting very heavy.

The worst of all: for some reason, whenever people asked Emmeryn anything, she would tell her opinion on the matter, turn around and ask for Gangrel's as well. He couldn't care less for the Ylisseans affairs or whatever they wanted, so having to constantly answer her was getting on his nerves. After some questions, he stopped to give proper answers and began to randomly say 'whatever' or 'I don't care' in the hope of making her give up on asking him. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect; the more he showed to be uninterested, the more determined she became to make him care.

Deep down in his putrid heart, all Gangrel wanted to do was throw everything up and go back home, but something always forced him to stay and endure the situation.

What was that? Neither him knew.

"Please, accept these flowers, Your Grace! They were cultivated with lots of love and care! I'm sure they'll be a luck charm for you!" Said a florist handing Emmeryn a bouquet of lilies.

Gangrel glared at the woman and shook his head negatively, but she apparently didn't notice (or outright ignored) and took the bouquet, making the man groan lowly.

"Thank you…" She smiled at the florist then turned to Gangrel "Aren't they… Beautiful?"

"I don't care." Gangrel answered for the ninth consecutive time. Emmeryn looked a bit disappointed at his answer, while the florist gave him a glare.

"Emmeryn, weren't we supposed to do something else?" He complained while adjusting a box of chocolates and a dress on the pile of things he was carrying.

"Your Grace! Your Grace!" Yelled a short man running in her direction "I have a something for you!"

Hearing that made Gangrel's blood boil. He wasn't going to carry absolutely anything else.

"Forget it! We don't have time for this and I don't want to carry more of your stupid junk!" Gangrel declared glaring furiously at the man.

"Please, sir! It's just one thing!" The short man begged.

"Urgh… Emmeryn, say something…"

Looking at her wasn't a good idea; Emmeryn practically implored for him to accept the present with the loveliest look he ever saw. What exactly it did to him is unknown, but he became unable to argue.

"Fine…" Gangrel grumbled "If it's just one thing."

"Thank you, sir! You won't regret it!"

The Mad King looked around and raised an eyebrow noticing there was nothing with the man.

"What exactly do you want to give her?"

"That thing over there!" The man pointed to a stall behind him that had a big watermelon with a gift tie.

Gangrel gritted his teeth and felt an urge to yell and curse everything in existence, but controlled himself to avoid problems.

"Emmeryn… The question…" He nearly begged.

"Uh? Oh… Yes…"

Emmeryn put the bouquet on a box of perfumes Gangrel was carrying (which greatly annoyed him), turned to the two men and asked:

"Excuse me… But… Did you see… Something flying… Recently?"

Both men gave her a confused look.

"Something flying?" The short man asked "Well, I've seen some birds today. And a few ducks yesterday. Oh! And the biggest wyvern I've ever seen in my whole life this morning! It went to Ever Woods, but I haven't seen it coming out after that. I think it's living in the forest now."

"What she meant is…" Gangrel interrupted, wanting to finish that ridiculous situation as soon as possible "Did you see anything of that kind in the night the princess killed the merchant?"

The florist glared furiously at Gangrel.

"The princess didn't kill anyone! She would never do such a thing!" He protested indignant.

"If she did or didn't isn't of my interest." Gangrel declared nonchalant "All I want to know is: did you see something or not?"

If it was possible, the florist would be launching darts from his eyes at the Mad King, but since he couldn't all he did was say:

"I didn't see anything."

"Neither me… But now that you mentioned…" The short man rubbed his chin "I saw an explosion."

"A what?!" Gangrel asked incredulous.

"An explosion." The man repeated "In the same night everyone said the princess killed the merchant I saw an explosion happening."

"What the… Are you making fun of me?" Gangrel gave the short man a dubious glare.

"No, sir! I would never do that!" The man raised his hands in innocence "I don't know exactly where it happened, but I saw fire and smoke coming from somewhere there." He pointed to a distant hill away from the village "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it again, I think I saw something flying from that same place when the explosion happened."

"Something… Flying?" Emmeryn asked "What… Exactly?"

"I can't say, Your Grace." The man rubbed the back of his head awkwardly "It was so dark I couldn't see what it was or where it headed for, but considering its apparent trajectory I would risk to say it was going to Ever Woods."

The mention of Ever Woods caught Gangrel's interest. If it was heading there, then it could be the thing Morgan was looking for. If it was and he discovered what that thing is, then he would be free from that stupid task she gave him and could return home!

"To that direction, you said?" Gangrel pointed to the hill using his head as his hands were busy.

"Yes, sir." The man confirmed "I don't know what it was, but there's an inn somewhere in that same direction. Maybe someone there saw something. I recommend you pay the place a visit."

"I think we know where to go now, don't you think, Emmeryn?" The red-haired man asked the former Exalt, who just nodded.

"Thank you…" Emmeryn bowed to the men and turned around, followed closely by Gangrel. Before they could leave, though, the short man called for them.

"Hey! Sir! Your Grace! Don't forget the watermelon!"

Gangrel groaned; for a moment, he thought to be free from the hassle of carrying the stupid watermelon, but apparently, he got his hopes too high. He took a quick glance at the clock tower and saw it marking six forty-five. Morgan told them to meet again only at eleven.

That was going to be a long day for him…

Meanwhile, a crow observed all his moves from the roof of a house nearby.

 **Ever Woods, September 25** **th** **, 6:46 AM**

"Inigo, if you sigh again I'll put the first rock I find in your mouth. I mean it." Severa threatened after the Mercenary sighed for the tenth time.

He wasn't the only one dissatisfied with the partner chosen for him; the female Mercenary wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Inigo and couldn't understand what Morgan was thinking when she designated her as his partner.

If being with Inigo wasn't enough, she would have to stand him for the following hours in a claustrophobic forest with lots of bugs, leaves, wines and strange things scattered on the ground everywhere.

"I don't understand…" Inigo lamented "Priam? How's Priam a better option than me? I'm the one who took her to have dinner at that expensive place. I'm the one who's always ready to help. Why Priam? What did she see on him?!"

Severa rolled her eyes.

"Well… At least I have the company of a lovely lady to compensate." He quickly recovered his composure.

"I knew you would go back to the philandering sooner or later…" The female Mercenary groaned.

"Philandering? My dear, I mean what I say!"

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever." Severa waved a hand dismissively "Now, shut up. We don't know what is inside this damn place, so we better be careful. The Ever Woods are a dense forest that houses an infinite number of harmless creatures and plants, but are also infamous for being lair of dangerous animals and hideout for bandits and rogues. The last thing I want is to call unwanted attention."

"My good lady, you have nothing to worry about! I'm here with you!" Inigo stated proudly.

Severa felt a drop of sweat running down the back of her head.

"I WASN'T worried… But now…"

"H-hey!"

Before Inigo could finish his complaint, they arrived in a place where the trees were more spaced between them, allowing more sunlight to reach the ground. It was a small clearing, with some herbs growing and a mushroom here and there.

It would be a regular clearing if not for three details: lots of cuts on the trees, a mark of blood on the grass and many broken branches lying on the ground.

Severa and Inigo scanned the area and concluded they had found the crime scene, the place where Lucina and the merchant were found. The blood mark was probably where the merchant's body laid before the guards arrived and took it to the castle to be examined by a specialist.

Where it was sent after that was unknown, but it was probably back to his hometown, wherever it was, and buried.

The two Mercenaries began looking around. The guards had already checked the crime scene, but Morgan seemed convinced they overlooked something and after everything they heard in the court it didn't sound unlikely.

Inigo approached one of the trees, unsheathed his sword and hit it. He compared carefully the cut he made with his sword and the cut in the tree.

"They look alike." He concluded "This is a common iron sword. Per the report, it's the same kind of sword Nikolai had when he died." He then pointed to another cut "There's also this cut. It isn't like mine, so I suppose it's from Falchion."

Severa got nearer to look at the cut.

"It seems like a sword." She agreed "But it's so rough, like if someone used a lot of force to do it. Lucina is very skilled with swords, especially Falchion. If she made that cut, it should be clean."

"Do you remember what Morgan said in the court?" Inigo asked "There was someone else trying to frame Lucina. If the person killed Nikolai and wanted to put the guilt on her, they would use Falchion to hit the trees and make this look like a fight happened, but Falchion becomes blunt when wielded by someone unworthy of it. That would explain why these cuts are so rough."

Severa nodded. Morgan did comment about the possibility of having a third person who was dressed like Lucina to frame her and if they did use Falchion to create false evidence against the princess, then it would explain the whole thing. However, as convincing as that theory sounded, they needed proof to sustain it.

After all, the only people who apparently were in that clearing during the crime were Lucina and the merchant. If a third person was there, then they must have left something indicating their presence. The two just had to find it.

"Uh… Severa…" Inigo called with an unsure tone.

"It better not be any of your philandering again…" Severa grumbled.

"Why do you always think I'm going to philanderer?!" He shot back offended.

"You gave me reasons."

Inigo grumbled a bit.

"It's not about philandering. But I admit it isn't related to what we are doing now…"

"And what would it be?" Severa asked drily, her eyes carefully analyzing the cuts.

"Sincerely, do you think it was a good idea to leave Emmeryn alone with Gangrel?" Inigo asked rubbing the back of his head "I mean, he won't hurt her, that I'm sure of, but considering their history together and all…"

The female Mercenary sighed. So, she wasn't the only one questioning Morgan's decision.

"You asked me to be sincere and so I'll be." Severa declared turning to look at him, a serious expression in her face "No matter how much Gangrel changed, I would never let him be alone with Emmeryn for a single second. I don't trust him." She turned to face the tree again "I wanted to protest against Morgan's decision, but…"

She didn't say the rest. It wasn't common for Severa to leave her sentences unfinished, so that sudden silence made Inigo a bit confused.

"But…?" He asked, inviting her to continue.

She remained silent for a few more moments before resuming what she was saying before.

"But if Morgan trusts in Gangrel enough to leave him with Emmeryn and not worry about it, then I'll trust in her judgment." She blushed slightly "M-mind you… I don't trust him… I already said it… I only trust in Morgan. That's why I didn't protest."

That statement made Inigo stare at her with a surprised look.

"W-what's wrong?!" Severa grumbled, noticing the boy's surprised expression.

"N-nothing! It's just… Ah…" Inigo avoided eye contact and rubbed his cheek insecure "You never said it before. I mean, it always looked like you didn't trust anyone and if you did, then you kept it very well hidden." He got the courage to look at her again "Actually, I think you never said it neither to Lucina, so it's a bit surprising you would admit to trust Morgan. Especially Morgan… Why specifically only her?"

Once again, Severa remained silent. Her eyes stared at the tree, but weren't seeing anything.

"Severa?" Inigo called for her.

She wasn't hearing anything as well. Her mind was distant, in a faraway memory from months before. A memory that insisted to surface every time she wanted to argue or discuss with Morgan.

" _What's wrong with trying to encourage your friends to be the best they can be? If they get upset, maybe they just need to work on receiving criticism better."_

" _Aw, we can take it, Severa. Trust me! We all love you! So stop worrying."_

" _We all love you!"_

" _We all love you!"_

" _We all love you…"_ She repeated melancholy in her mind and would do it a few more times if Inigo didn't start to gently shake her shoulder trying to get her attention.

"Huh? What now?" Severa asked, still a bit lost in her thoughts.

"Look at this." The boy then pointed to a cut in the tree.

At first, it seemed to be a cut like the others, but after taking a better look she noticed it was a bit different.

"It wasn't made by a sword." She declared tilting her head and looking confused to the cut "Whatever did it was sharp like a sword, but wasn't one. It left a groove inside the mark."

Which meant it wasn't made by Falchion neither Nikolai's sword. It was a third unidentified blade.

Severa took the report Morgan gave them and read it.

"There's nothing about a third kind of mark here."

"Not a big surprise." Inigo declared "I only noticed it was different because we're very close to it. If I saw it from just a few more centimeters away I would see absolutely no difference."

"A third blade can mean a third person." Severa thought aloud "And per Lucina's testimony, she heard something being cut and saw marks on the trees when she arrived here."

"That would prove she's saying the truth." Inigo added "But it also raises a question… I mean, if the real killer was here, why would he hit the trees and make noise? It would call attention."

"Maybe the killer and the merchant fought here." Severa turned around and scanned the whole place "I'm sure we'll find more marks like this one in the other trees if we look at them."

"Even if we find…" Inigo scratched his head "We will still have one problem: Lucina never said she saw the body when she arrived, and I know she wouldn't forget or overlook something like a corpse. If the killer was here and Nikolai died by his hands, how there was no body when Lucina got here?"

Severa rubbed her chin thoughtful; she had no idea how that could be possible. No matter how much she thought, no answer came to her, so she decided to simply ignore that fact for the moment and told Inigo to help her examine the rest of the place.

Like she said, there were more marks like the one they saw and, like Inigo stated, unless you looked very closely at them and at a relatively short distance it was nearly impossible to notice the difference from the ones made by Falchion and Nikolai's sword.

"Hey, Severa!" Inigo called for her from the middle of the clearing.

She stopped to look at the marks and walked towards him.

"Say." She simply ordered.

"Since we arrived, these branches on the ground have been bugging me." He pointed to the branches around him "That one in special." He then pointed to a much bigger branch.

He then pointed up, making Severa follow his finger. Above them was a hole made in the vegetation.

"As you can see, this hole exists because the branches that were there aren't anymore." Inigo then pointed again to the branches around them "I guess they are these ones here."

"And what about that bigger one?" Severa then pointed to the much bigger branch "It seems very sturdy. It wouldn't break easily."

"Which reminds me of something else." Inigo said "Do you remember what Cynthia and Gerome said about a shadow coming out of the woods in the night of the crime?"

Severa raised an eyebrow.

"Are you suggesting the shadow they saw and the thing that broke these branches are the same?" She asked.

Inigo nodded.

"I mean, there's no way to confirm this yet." He admitted "But I think it's a possibility." Inigo then turned to look again at the tree behind him "I would even dare to say there's a chance that thing also made these marks."

"If that's the truth, then we have a problem." Severa said crossing her arms "There's that hooded figure Gerome and Cynthia saw entering Ever Woods who's probably the real killer, but I doubt it would be able to fly. Even if it is, that figure was nearly the same height as Lucina, which means it wouldn't have enough strength to break that branch." She pointed to the bigger branch.

"Besides, considering everything we saw here, this seems more like the work of a flying creature with immense physical strength. The only thing that comes to my mind is a wyvern, but there's no sign of wyverns here."

After finishing her sentence, Severa looked at Inigo and noticed he had a scared expression. His mouth was slightly open, sweat ran down his face and his legs were shaking.

"Inigo, what are you doing?" She asked with an annoyed face.

"Severa…" He whispered "Don't make sudden moves… Or loud noises…"

"What?"

Then, she felt a blow of hot air on the back of her head.

Severa turned around and saw an enormous wyvern glaring at her. It was much bigger than any other she had ever seen before and its body was covered in scars, its wings were the size of a grown man and the tail moved from one side to the other like a big, muscular whip made of scales. The powerful legs ended in big paws with four enormous claws that looked sharp as sickles and its jaw was slightly open, revealing deadly fangs.

The Mercenary froze. Cold sweat began to roll down her face and she felt her legs shaking slightly. Usually, a wyvern wouldn't make her so scared, but that wasn't a regular wyvern; one could say it was practically a dragon.

The wyvern examined the girl carefully, sniffed her a few times and even walked around her trying to discover if she was a threat or just an imprudent visitor.

Severa remained completely still. The wyvern kept walking around her, examining the girl from all angles. It was about to dismiss her as a simple nuisance when…

RIIIIIIIIIIIING

Severa's phone began ringing.

The loud piercing sound hurt the wyvern's sensitive ears and made him absurdly angry. He stomped his feet on the ground and let out a furious roar.

"SHIT!" The female Mercenary cursed.

"GYAYAYAHUAAAAAAHYYYAAAAAAAAAA!" Screamed desperately the male one.

In that same moment, a crow took flight from the branch where it silently observed everything and left to another place.

 **Near Ever Woods, September 25** **th** **, 7:01 AM**

Maggot was looking for any sign of a wolf or any other big animal when he heard a loud noise coming from Ever Woods.

"What was that?" He asked to no one in specific.

"Don't worry, old man." Tick, who was just a few meters away, reassured "It's just a moody wyvern."

GYAYAYAHUAAAAAAHYYYAAAAAAAAAA!

"And what was that?" Maggot asked.

"Ah… That one is a bit hard to say…" Tick admitted "But I once heard a bull making a sound like that."

The leader of the Elite Trio raised an eyebrow.

"A bull?"

"Yep." Tick confirmed.

"And why would a bull make a sound like that?"

"I don't know." Tick said "I went after it to see what was happening, but when I arrived it was already dead."

"Oh… How unfortunate." Maggot simply declared.

While the two talked, Flea kept looking the grass for evidence, his blue eyes carefully examining every little inch.

"Hey, old man!" Tick called for Maggot.

"Yes?"

"Not that I doubt the boss's decisions or anything like that, but why did she want us to look for signs of a wolf? Is it going to help the princess in court?"

"The wolf in itself won't make much of a difference." Maggot stated with his usual emotionless tone "But proving there was one around here during the night of the crime will help with her testimony."

Tick scratched his head.

"I don't follow."

"In other words…" Maggot began "It will help to prove she's saying the truth. Ms. Lucina stated in court she entered Ever Woods because of rumors of a wolf, but Mr. Kanto said the guards saw no wolf or big animal during the night. If we find anything saying the opposite, then it's one point for the princess. If Mr. Walhart and Mr. Yen'fay also find people who knew about the rumors, then her testimony becomes nearly impossible to be declared a lie."

"Ooooh… I see…" Tick rubbed his chin thoughtful.

…

"You didn't understand a thing, did you?" Maggot asked.

"Nope." The other man admitted with an awkward smile, making the older one to facepalm.

"Hey, you two!" Flea suddenly called for his partners.

The two men interrupted their talk to see what the smallest of them discovered. When they got near, Flea pointed to some paw marks he found.

"They are fresh." He stated "Probably from four days ago, at most."

Tick crouched to take a better look at the paw marks.

"By the format… I would say it's a rabbit or a small rodent. But…" He tilted his head "By the size… It looks like a big dog or maybe even a wolf."

"And more." Flea then pointed to two marks "The front legs." He then pointed to another two marks "The rear legs."

The leader and his right-hand man examined the marks and both raised an eyebrow.

"The distance is incompatible with both possibilities." Tick said "Considering the difference between the two pairs of legs, the animal that left these marks should be at least the size of a bear, if not bigger."

Maggot rubbed his chin and left his henchmen to see where the marks went.

"Can you think about anything that would make such marks?" Tick asked Flea, who just shook his head negatively.

After following the trail for some time, Maggot noticed it went straight to Ever Woods, but instead of continuing he turned around and decided to see where it began.

"Aside from this, did you find anything else, shorty?" Tick asked.

"Yes, but nothing that could be a wolf or something of that kind." Flea answered "I've found trails of rats, horses, cats… Even ducks, man! Ducks!"

"Maybe it's some new species?"

"In that case, we could call it an UMA." Flea stated.

"An UMA that knows how to teleport, apparently." Maggot declared from behind them.

Flea and Tick turned around and gave their leader a confused look.

"Teleport?" Both asked at the same time.

"I followed the trail to see where it went." Maggot adjusted his glasses "It goes straight to Ever Woods." He then pointed behind him "If you follow it to see where it begins, the marks disappear near the road and there are only marks of people, horses and chariots there."

"So… We've run into a dead end?" Tick asked.

"Not exactly, because…" Maggot took five tissues from his coat "I have found this."

"And what's that?" Flea asked, looking curiously at the tissues.

"Fur. Five strings of fur."

"Strings of fur? How did you see that in the middle of the grass?" Tick asked a bit impressed.

"After years in this job, your eyes become very well trained."

…

"You used Dark Magic, didn't you?" Flea and Tick asked in unison.

Maggot simply raised his shoulders and said:

"Just because I'm over forty doesn't mean I can't joke sometimes."

The older man took a tome from his coat, put the tissues inside it and handed the book to Flea.

"Flea, return to the HQ and make genetic tests with this fur. If the results are completed before the time madam Morgan told us to meet again, look for me or her."

"Understood."

"Tick…" He turned to the other man "Now that this is done, we can do the other things madam Morgan asked us."

Tick nodded.

"Go back to Ylisstol and keep an eye on the targets. Make your best not to lose them of sight."

"Count on me!" Tick declared confident.

"I will go to the Ylissean Court check what she wanted. We meet again at eleven, in front of Ylisse's Castle."

With that last statement, the Elite Trio disappeared in a darkish purple cloud.

 **Cicada Street, Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 7:05 AM**

"I can't believe this!" Morgan complained for the third time "How can a guy of that size disappear so easily?"

It had been ten minutes since Morgan began looking for Priam. Somehow, she managed to lose the man and couldn't find him anywhere.

After a bit of questioning, Morgan discovered who was the little girl Lucina met; her name was Sapphire, seven years old, resident of the village and lived with her parents in Cicada Street, a few minutes from the main square. She was very famous in the village for her "energy" and many merchants called her a "tireless little angel", whatever those things meant.

Looking for her hadn't been much of a problem, but standing Priam was being a pain in the ass.

He never stopped to talk about the 'paths of fighters', 'how to train your mind and body for battle', 'excellent trainings for war' and some other things Morgan didn't pay attention. Not only that, but he would always stop somewhere to give advices to the children on how to become good warriors, to fight with honor and more things Morgan didn't pay attention.

When he apparently finished with these things he suddenly disappeared, forcing her to delay the investigation AGAIN to look for him.

" _Where the hell did he go now?"_

Just as Morgan thought that, she heard Priam's voice coming from somewhere a bit ahead, but all she could see was a group of girls surrounding something.

" _Great… Just great…"_ She complained in her mind as she walked towards the concentration of people.

Like she expected, the girls were surrounding Priam while he kept doing his battle stances.

"And this is the stance you take to defend from an incoming blow." He put his sword in front of him and positioned his legs.

"Oh… Could you do that other one again?" Asked one of the girls.

"Which one?"

"All of them, if possible." She giggled.

"HEY, DUNDERHEAD!"

Priam and all girls turned around to see who said it; it was Morgan, arms crossed and tapping her foot.

"What do you think you are doing?" She gave him a stern glare.

"These young girls wanted to learn battle stances." He simply answered.

"No, they wanted to see you flexing your muscles." Morgan groaned "Besides, we were supposed to be looking for clues, not showing off! Stop that ridiculous thing and get back to work!"

"Hey! Who do you think you are to come here and begin bossing him?" One of the girls intruded their conversation.

"I'm his BOSS, that's why I can boss him around." Morgan answered drily "Now, would you and your friend leave?"

"Oh… And what are you going to do?" Another girl mocked.

Priam gave a few steps back while Morgan took a Nosferatu tome from her coat, targeted a tree and launched the spell.

"NOSFERATU!"

The tree was surrounded by a purple energy that quickly drained its life force. In few seconds, the tree withered, lost its leaves and was reduced to nothing but a small pile of ashes.

The girls stared horrified at the scene, then turned their faces to Morgan, who just gave them an annoyed look and said:

"Boo."

All the girls ran away desperately. Feeling satisfied, Morgan put the tome back in her coat, grabbed Priam by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him to Sapphire's house.

Nearby, a crow, which watched the whole scene, accompanied them with its eyes until they reached the house. It then set flight and left the village.

Morgan stopped in front of the door and knocked it a few times. After some moments of silence, the door opened and a young man with black hair appeared to them.

"Good day." He greeted "How can I help you?"

"Good day, sir. My name is Morgan and this here is Priam." Morgan presented them "We're looking for a girl called Sapphire and some people told us she's your daughter."

The man gave them an emotionless stare, sighed and asked:

"What did she do this time?"

"Uh…" Morgan was caught off guard by the question "Actually, the reason we're here isn't exactly something she did."

"No?" The man seemed a bit surprised "What is it, then?"

Morgan took a paper from her coat and gave it to the man, who took it and began reading.

"The Ylissean Court?" He asked.

"Yes. We're working in a case for the Ylissean Court." Morgan proceeded to explain "One of the witnesses, the defendant to say the truth, affirmed to be with your daughter in the festival some days ago and we came here to make her some questions. That is, if you don't mind."

The man seemed a bit confused for a moment, but delivered the paper and said:

"Well, it seems to be very important, so I won't mind if I can stay with her all the time."

"Sure, that wouldn't be a problem." Morgan reassured.

The man then invited them to enter, but warned:

"You two better get ready. There's no girl sweeter than my Sapphire, but she can be… Difficult to deal with."

Morgan and Priam exchanged a look. What exactly did he mean with "difficult to deal with"?

 **Meanwhile…**

He always felt privileged. Not because his hideout was big and comfortable or because he could eat all kinds of delicacies he wanted or because of the great amount of gold he had.

He felt privileged because he had one of the most beautiful views of Ylisse right in front of him and he could share it with his children. All he had to do was look through his window and he would be gifted with the marvelous image of the crystalline lake and the verdant hill.

He was admiring that beautiful scene while three crows rested on his handmade table, sometimes grooming their feathers and taking small bits of an apple he left unfinished.

In the distance, he noticed a black blur in the morning sky coming nearer. He extended his arm outside the window and the blur, another crow, landed on his hand. The man approached his head to the crow and the bird lowly cawed something in his ear.

"Oh, really?" He asked with a smirk "But this is good news!"

He then turned around to face the other birds, who stopped whatever they were doing to pay attention.

"My sweeties, everything went like I expected. I have the pleasure to announce all the ingredients we need are at our disposal."

The crows cawed in unison.

"Now, go my children." He pointed to the window "You know what to do. Make Daddy proud."

The crows took flight and left through the window, each one heading to a different direction. The man kept looking at them until they disappeared from his sight, then put his hands on his back and smiled.

"I see you are determined to reach out to the truth and save your sweet princess, young Proxy." He stared at the sky "I like that spirit! That energy! Your determination tickles my palate like the finest of delicacies! And that's why we will help you however we can, but be warned: the truth is sour."

His smile widened.

"So sour it will shake the whole Halidom to its foundations. Can you imagine that? This is the perfect recipe for the biggest scandal in the history of this country. How insanely and…" He licked his lips "Deliciously tragic could it be?"

His large smile became a sadistic one.

"But of course, we will not give you the answers you want so easily. Oh, no… We will make this go on for a while. After all, what is the fun in a game that ends quickly? I want to see you fighting. I want to see your friends struggling to swallow the truth as it is revealed little by little. I want to see how the people will react to each bitter piece of this story."

He laughed lowly.

"And above everything else, I want to see how you will take this. After all, I have been preparing myself for a chance like this for years."

…

"But what about you, young Proxy? Do you have the stomach for this?"

 **To be continued…**

 _And it's over!_

 _Man, I can't believe it took me so much time to finish this single chapter… I'm tired… So tired I won't even make the usual joke I make before the author notes._

 _Even because, sincerely, I think they're a bit stupid and got old very quickly, so I may not make them anymore._

 _Author note: Today is a good day, because instead of the stupidly long notes I usually make, this time I only have one! It's about the Elite Trio._

 _I just want to say if you liked the Elite Trio, then I have good news: they'll become recurrent characters in this story, mostly because they'll get evidence, make examinations and other little things for Morgan whenever she can't because she's in court or doing something else._

 _If you disliked the Elite Trio, then I also have good news: they'll become recurrent characters, but they're gag characters and their appearances will be short, so you won't have to stand them too much._

 _Of course, I can make them appear more times or less times depending on your opinions about these three, because they aren't very important for the story, which gives me flexibility to work with them._

 _DearestDissapointment: Glad to know that! Especially because I don't think he would fit anywhere else than a humor piece XD_

 _Jokes aside, I'm happy to know you think that. As a character, I personally think Seiji is very weak, but he's MY creation, so the blame is on me._

 _Lean: Thanks for the compliment! After chapter 3 I was feeling a bit insecure, but it's good to know I made a better job with chapter 4._

 _What really bothers me about this, though, is that chapter 3 could've been a good chapter if I was a bit more prudent and didn't force myself beyond my limits to write it. That's why you must remember kids: sleep, eat and rest properly or things will start going downhill!_

 _slightlyabovehuman: Hello again! I hope you enjoyed your vacation in California! I, sincerely, don't even remember when was the last time I went on vacation XD_

 _Oh, wait… It was in November…_

 _Well, jokes aside, you have no idea how I'm glad to know I made a better chapter than before! Like I said to Lean up there, after that week I felt a bit insecure about myself and my writing, so knowing I managed to make up for the mess I made takes an enormous weight out of my shoulders._

 _And I'm also happy to know the scene with Brady worked. For a moment, I thought I was forcing the thing, but liked their conversation so much I kept it. Seems like I made the right choice._

 _Now, about Seiji… You've put in words exactly what I was feeling about him. Actually, the reason I asked for opinions is exactly to know if I was feeling the same the readers were._

 _I think the reason I didn't give him the attention he needed, especially considering he's the primary antagonist so far, is because my focus was on the case and how I would tell the facts, not how Morgan and Seiji would confront each other in court, which is a bit bizarre since the story is Morgan Ace Attorney and not Morgan Investigations._

 _In a way, I think Seiji is more like that annoying character who acts as an opposing force for the protagonist, but isn't necessarily a threat._

 _Well, something to improve for later stories. Not that I'm complaining, it's actually good to know where I have to get better._

 _For now, it's all, but before I leave, one last thing:_

 _Sorry if the Monster Hunter references from the last chapter sounded forced, but I've been playing Monster Hunter Generations a lot recently and couldn't resist the chance to do it._

 _See you in the next chapter!_


	6. The Ravens

_I'm ridiculously late and I know it, and for that I apologize!_

 _I can explain why it took so much for a new chapter, but let's leave this for later. First the most important, which is the story!_

 _Of course, before that…_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _No matter how much I want, the only thing I own is this story. Anything Fire Emblem related belongs to Nintendo. Oh, and anything from any other company belongs to said company._

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 6: The Ravens**

 **Cicada Street, Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 7:07 AM**

"Please, feel at home." The man said while taking Morgan and Priam inside his house. It was a humble home, with some old furniture and pictures of him and his family in a few places. He invited them to sit on an aged, but very comfortable, red couch.

"By the way, call me Mark." He presented himself while Morgan and Priam took a place in the couch.

"Dear, I heard the door." A woman with long brown hair wearing an apron appeared "Who was that?"

"Oh, it was these two. Let me introduce you." He turned to the two 'investigators' "Ms. Morgan, Mr. Priam, this is my wife, Caroline." Mark then turned to his wife "They came here to speak with Sapphire."

Caroline sighed.

"What did she do this time?"

Morgan raised an eyebrow. Why were these two so convinced their daughter did something?

"Actually, it's not about something she did." Mark explained.

"Really?" Caroline seemed a bit surprised "So what is it?"

"If I understood it right, it's about her friend from the festival."

"Her friend? What about that person?" Caroline asked.

"We're working in a case for the Ylissean Court." Morgan proceeded to explain "I'll tell all the details, but first I would like to speak with your daughter. Is this possible?"

"Ah, sure." Caroline stated "I'll call her, she's probably playing outside with…"

Her sentence was interrupted by the door being slammed and small feet running at full speed in their direction.

"Zooooooooom! I'm a great soldier!" Said a little girl, short brown hair combed in a ponytail, yellow dress and black eyes running inside the house and holding a little plush soldier in her right hand like it was flying.

"I fight to protect the people!" She kept running around the room "No evil can stop me! I'll protect all I love!"

Morgan and Priam followed the little girl with their eyes and smiled; she was so cute and innocent. If that was Mark and Caroline's daughter, then why were they so worried?

"Oh, no! It's a horrible flying Risen!" The girl shouted while getting an old brown sock and putting it in her left hand like a puppet "It's coming to destroy us!"

She began to hit the plush soldier with the sock.

"Oh, my gods! It's eating me alive!" She began to shake the little soldier like it was desperately in pain "My blood and intestines are flying everywhere! I can't survive this! Tell my wife I hate her!"

She then threw the plush soldier through the nearest window and announced:

"You're dead! No big surprise!"

The smiles in Morgan and Priam's faces were replaced with horrified expressions. Satisfied with her game, the little girl took the sock off her hand, threw it in a corner of the room and ran to her mother, still unaware of the two visitors.

"Mommy! Mommy! I had a great day!" She declared hugging her mother "I played with my toys, hunted for bugs and discovered how to use your roses to paint pictures!"

"That's great, honey." Caroline smiled warmly at her daughter until she noticed something and the smile disappeared.

"Hold on… What about my roses?!"

"How did she do all that already? It's only seven in the morning." Priam whispered to Morgan, who just raised her shoulders.

"Uh… Sapphire, dear…" Mark interrupted, trying to avoid another discussion about his wife's carefully raised roses "These two people here wanted to ask you about…"

Before he could finish, Sapphire looked at the couch and noticed the unknown people her father was talking about. Like any good (hyperactive) girl, she wasted no time to greet them the best she could.

In other words, to say everything that came to her mind before her brain could process whatever she was saying.

"Hello to you! My name's Sapphire! Who are you two? Why are you here? When did you come? Did you clean your feet before you entered? Do you want to eat something? We have cookies! They're delicious! I like to eat cookies with milk and bear meat!"

" _Finally, I've found someone else with good taste!"_ Morgan thought triumphantly.

"Little one, we came here to ask…" Priam began, but before he could finish Sapphire interrupted with another wave of questions.

"What are you looking for? Did I do something? I do lots of things, so I can't remember everything I did! Was it wrong? Do you want a cookie? Hey! A butterfly!" She pointed to the insect flying in the outside.

"To say the truth, we came to ask about…" Morgan tried to continue what Priam began, but the little girl interrupted again.

"Oh! I know! Let's play house!" She ran to grab the sock and came back to them "This can be the baby, I can be the mother, you can be the other mother and the ugly man can be the father!"

"Two mothers?" Morgan tilted her head confused.

"Ugly man?!" Priam asked a bit indignant.

"Oh! I know! Let's play hide and seek! I'll prepare the game!" Sapphire threw the sock to the side, grabbed the small table in the middle of the room and turned it upside down, throwing the flower vase to the floor and breaking it.

"SAPPHIRE!" Both her parents scolded.

"What the table…?" Morgan shook her head "No, dear. We want to…"

"OH! I KNOW!" She turned to face Morgan with a wide smile "Let's play Super Mario 3D World!"

"OH! I WANT TO BE LUIGI!" The Proxy said enthusiastically, which filled the room with an awkward silence.

"I mean…" She quickly recovered her composure "We want to ask you about your friend from the festival."

"Oh! Ms. Lady Guy!" Sapphire declared, which made Morgan and Priam stare confused at her "Ok! I'll tell everything I know!"

"That's great!" Morgan said.

"But first I'll get a cookie!" The girl ran at full speed somewhere else to get said cookie.

The two 'investigators' could only stare a bit surprised (if not scared) at how much energy she had. Now they understood what Mark meant with 'difficult to deal with'.

 **Main square of Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 7:15 AM**

After many unsuccessful tries, Yen'fay and Walhart decided to take a break at a bench near a sweet buns stall. The Swordmaster couldn't make his presence noticed and the Conqueror was calling way too much attention, which reduced their chances of questioning someone to zero.

"This is ridiculous!" Walhart complained "What's wrong with these people?! Why are they running away?!"

Yen'fay knew the reason, but didn't have the courage to tell him. Besides, he wasn't in a much better position; while Walhart was scaring people away, he failed to make anyone notice him.

" _So, is this how Kellam feels?"_ He asked himself.

"How are we supposed to find the information we need if no one helps?" Walhart scowled while drying some sweat from his forehead.

"The problem may be the way you two are working." Said an unknown voice coming from behind them, prompting the men to turn their heads around.

The owner of the voice was a young man, probably the same age as Chrom, deep black hair carefully combed, eyes of a venomous yellow and soft features. He wore fancy black clothes that made him look like an aristocrat of the Ylissean high society and had a refined air.

"The way we are working?" Yen'fay asked.

"You, my good man, has a voice that calms people, but can't face the noisy mess of the everyday. On other hand, your friend has a voice of a great leader, that has an air of strength and authority, but sounds too menacing for the common people." The man smiled "The optimal choice would be to work TOGETHER."

Yen'fay and Walhart exchanged an awkward look.

"Your qualities cover the other's defects." He continued, apparently unaware of the awkwardness "Working together isn't an easy task, but the results that come from the delicate combination of determination, spirit and hard work of comrades united for a common cause is indescribably delectable."

The situation became even more awkward. Why on Earth was that man speaking like they were talking about food?

The man noticed the Swordmaster and Conqueror giving him weird looks and giggled.

"Sorry for this. It's an old habit of my dear father. I think it rubbed a bit to me and my siblings." He cleared his throat "By the way, where are my manners? My name's Yubari. Pleased to meet you." He bowed to them.

Yen'fay and Walhart continued to stare suspiciously at him. Noticing the two were very distrustful, Yubari smiled and decided to make things go a bit faster.

"I saw you two trying to ask something to the people. Would you mind to tell what is that? I may be able to help."

Although still a bit suspicious of the man, they decided to give him a chance. After all, that was the first time they had a chance to successfully question anyone.

"We're working for a case." Yen'fay who took the initiative "During the first night of the festival…"

"Oh, the crime involving the princess? I know of that." Yubari declared.

"So, in this case, I can go straight to the point." Yen'fay said "Did you hear about any rumors of a wolf or a mysterious figure entering Ever Woods?"

Yubari rubbed his chin a few times with a thoughtful expression.

"Let me think… I heard some rumors about a wolf." He closed his eyes "Or was it a bear?" He tilted his head "Or was it a dragon?" He opened his eyes to stare at the men and smiled "Or was it a dragon chasing a bear?"

Yen'fay felt a drop of sweat running down his face and Walhart glared at Yubari.

"About the mysterious figure…" He tapped his chin "I saw someone with a horrible hoody."

That detail caught their attention. Someone who was wearing the same thing as Lucina was seen by Cynthia and Gerome.

"Do you know who was it?" Walhart inquired.

"Of course, I do." Yubari declared.

"Who?"

"Someone with a horrible sense of fashion." Yubari laughed lowly.

Yen'fay felt more sweat running down his face and Walhart glared harder at him.

"When did you see the figure?" The Swordmaster risked to ask.

"When?" Yubari turned around "When was it again? At five past eight? No, it can't be. It was before. I arrived here at seven fifty and something. Yes, it was before." He turned to face them again "I would remember that. The figure was accompanied."

"By who?"

"A person."

"H… How was the person?"

"Let me think… The person had two eyes, a mouth, a nose…" Yubari giggled mischievously.

"That's enough!" Walhart shouted "You're making fun of us and wasting our time! If you don't have anything important to say, then leave!"

Yubari shook his head disappointed.

"That's the kind of behavior that's making your work so hard. You can't be like that." The man glanced at them "You must be gentler. Softer." He giggled "But I do admit your presence is a good way to call attention."

"Like I said" Walhart stood up menacingly "If you don't have anything to say, leave!"

Yubari just raised his shoulders.

"Alright, alright, no need for stress." He turned around and walked away "Just be careful not to make more decisions that you'll regret later."

Yen'fay and Walhart raised an eyebrow.

What exactly did he mean with that?

 **Cicada Street, Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 07:32 AM**

It took some effort, but Mark and Caroline managed to make Sapphire stay quiet long enough for Morgan to tell them what transpired in the days before: the crime, how Lucina was accused, the trial, everything that was revealed, the inconsistencies…

The couple listened to all details jaw dropped while their daughter devoured the cookies she got in the kitchen. At first, Morgan thought about leaving some details like the murder and the body's condition hidden because of Sapphire, but noticed it would be nothing compared to 'flying intestines' and decided to forget the censorship.

When she finished her narrative, the couple remained jaw dropped. Sapphire munched a cookie and asked with her mouth full:

"And what happened after that?"

"Uh… Nothing. Now we have to look for evidence to discover what happened."

"Aw… I wanted to know the ending!" Sapphire lamented putting another cookie in her mouth.

"I know it sounds random and ridiculous, but that's why we need your daughter's testimony." Morgan turned to face the still incredulous parents "She's the only person to be with Lucina before she entered in the woods, and as such, the only who can prove her testimony true."

"Or false. OUCH!" Priam jumped as Morgan pinched his arm.

The couple exchanged a look.

"Uh…" Caroline sounded a bit uncertain "Ok… If that's the case…" She then looked at her daughter "Dear, tell Ms. Morgan what happened in that day when we went to the festival."

"Oh! Sure! It was a great day!" Sapphire said enthusiastically "I woke up, had breakfast and went to play outside with teddy bear! We were near the castle when teddy bear decided to swim in the castle's well, but teddy bear forgot he can't swim because he's stupid and began to drown! I called for help and Ms. Lady Guy came to save teddy bear! I was so happy that I invited her to come to the festival! I went back to play more and told mommy and daddy what happened! When it was time to go to the festival, only mommy came with me because daddy hurt his butt!"

"My thigh! Not my butt, my thigh!" Mark flushed slightly.

"When we arrived, I found Ms. Lady Guy and went to show her the games, the food, the things we could buy and went back to mommy! I played the whole night and when we returned home I ate lots of cookies and slept like a big fat pig! The end!"

"Wow… She even added a 'the end' in the ending…" Morgan muttered to herself "Is that all?"

Sapphire nodded, which made Morgan sigh disappointed.

"Seems like we came here for nothing." She rubbed the back of her head "This doesn't help us at all. All the information's too vague."

"Uh… Actually…" Caroline began "There is something I would like to ask."

"Oh, really? Well, feel free to ask anything. Maybe it'll help." Morgan invited the woman to proceed.

"When did princess Cynthia arrive at the festival again?"

"She arrived when the festival began." Morgan answered.

Caroline stared confused.

"But if things happened like you said, then it would have much more than five minutes of difference between the time she arrived and when princess Lucina arrived."

Morgan and Priam raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Priam asked.

"The festival began much earlier than it should. I left home with Sapphire at seven fifty-two and it takes less than three minutes to get in the main square from here, so we arrived there at seven fifty-five at most. When we got there, the festival had already begun, we met the princess and I let Sapphire go with her."

Morgan widened her eyes in shock.

"The festival had already begun? And Lucina was already there?!" She asked incredulous. If that was true, Cynthia arrived much before eight o'clock and Lucina didn't arrive at five past eight.

But if that was the case, the time inconsistency in the testimonies would become even bigger and any connection between them and what Sumia said would disappear. Above everything else, if that was what happened, why on Earth did Lucina say she arrived at a time she didn't?

"Are you sure you left at seven fifty-two?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, I am." Caroline confirmed "We have a clock in the kitchen. It's a bit rusty, but works like a new one. Before I left, I took a quick glance at the time. It was a bit early, but we left nonetheless in the hope of getting some of the famous Valmese cherry cakes they sell at the festival before the line got too long, but when we arrived everything was already set up."

"And why did the festival began before planned?" Priam asked.

"I don't know." Caroline simply said "I also found it weird, but Sapphire wanted to show some stalls to the princess and before I noticed the thought slipped my mind. I only remembered that when we were on our way home, so I didn't remember to ask anyone."

Morgan scratched her head confused; what was already bad became worse.

"Do you remember anything else?" Morgan asked.

Caroline thought for a few moments then shook her head negatively.

"I can't say much." Mark joined the conversation "Like Sapphire said, I was hurt and couldn't go with them, so most of what Caroline said is unknown to me."

"And you, little one?" Morgan turned to Sapphire "Do you remember anything else?"

"Nope!" The little girl announced.

" _Seems like I'm troubled."_ The Proxy thought _"Now I don't have only the problem with Lucina being in the forest or not when Sumia was hit, but there's now this issue about the time she and Cynthia really arrived!"_

"OH! WAIT!" Sapphire suddenly announced, startling everyone "There's something I remembered! A bit after I went back to mommy, I saw a funny boy using a ridiculous mask arriving at the festival!"

" _Funny boy with a ridiculous mask?!"_

"How was him?!" Morgan asked surprised.

"He had funny blue hair, a funny black armor and a funny stupid mask that made him look like Batman! I remember that because his appearance made me laugh!" Sapphire told, making Morgan widen her eyes in incredulity and Priam raise an eyebrow wondering who was that 'Batman' she was talking about.

" _Blue hair?! Black armor?! Stupid mask?! But the only person I know who matches that description and was in the festival is… GEROME?!"_ The Proxy's mind began spiraling in an enormous mess of information she couldn't process _"But if Gerome arrived AFTER she went back to her mother, then he and Cynthia arrived AFTER Lucina, which contradicts their statement of arriving when the festival began! Unless… Lucina has…"_

Morgan felt a knot in her stomach just for thinking that. It couldn't be it. It simply couldn't!

Or at least, she hoped it couldn't.

 **Somewhere inside Ever Woods, September 25** **th** **, 7:56 AM**

"This. Is. Ridiculous." Severa complained as lowly as she could.

"Shhh! Make silence! That thing may be nearby!" Inigo whispered to her.

After some intense moments of running desperately, the two mercenaries found a place to hide behind a large tree. Not far away, the wyvern kept looking for them, still furious for what happened.

Usually, he wouldn't mind such small preys like them, but that wasn't being a good day for him and his mood couldn't be worse. First, he woke up with a horrible stomachache, a parting gift of a cow he ate the night before. Then, he slipped inside a river and became completely soaked by the cold water. Next, a swarm of wisps attacked him for reasons only the gods knew. Now, these two little brats invaded his territory to hurt his poor ears? Patience had limits and these two little pests crossed all of them and he wasn't going to let it go so easily!

"You're a big disappointment, you big mouthed philanderer!" Severa scowled at Inigo "Didn't you say I had nothing to worry with you here?!"

"What did you expect me to do?!" Inigo retorted defensively "The only thing I have now is an iron sword! Did you see that wyvern's scales?! They looked like an armor made of rocks! This sword would barely scratch it! Besides, you were the one nearer to him!"

"Don't blame me for this!" The female mercenary glared furiously "That thing would have eaten me before I could do anything! And I'm in no better condition about weapons! I also only have an iron sword! Hitting that thing would only make it angrier!"

Before they could continue their argument, the wyvern passed dangerously close to the tree they were hiding behind. Severa and Inigo froze, sweat running down their faces. The wyvern sniffed the air a few times, but felt nothing. The stupid 'dive' in the river earlier that day made him get sick and his nose wasn't working like it should. To make things worse, his sight wasn't as good as it used to be due to his age, so the only sense he could trust now was his hearing.

He remained silent, turning his head from one side to the other, trying to notice anything out of normal. Behind the tree, the mercenaries remained motionless and even held their breathing.

After a few tense seconds, the wyvern gave up and went somewhere else. Severa and Inigo sighed relieved and sat on the ground.

"This. Is. Ridiculous." Severa repeated her complaint "First, I have to enter in this sinister forest with a dunderhead."

"Hey!" Inigo protested.

"Then, a stupid wyvern tries to kill me. Now I'm being forced to hide from said stupid wyvern!" She ignored the boy "What else can happen?"

Just as she finished her sentence, a knife was thrown in her direction and got stuck on the ground between her and Inigo. Both mercenaries instinctively jumped a few centimeters back and turned their gazes to where the knife came. In the shadows made by the trees, they could see a hooded figure turning around and running deeper in the woods.

"Hey! Come back here!" Severa shouted, getting up and running after the figure. Inigo took the knife, put it on his belt and followed his friend.

They chased the figure at full speed, but the hooded person, whoever he or she was, clearly had an advantage over them. Not only the figure was avoiding every obstacle in the way with amazing skill, but was running at a speed the two mercenaries couldn't keep up with. Little by little, he or she was gaining distance and slowly disappearing between the trees.

The chase continued for some seconds until they arrived at another clearing, a much smaller one, where they lost sight of the hooded person.

"Dang it!" Severa cursed, panting and cleaning some sweat from her forehead. She looked around looking for any clue of where the person went, but couldn't find anything.

"How… Where…" Inigo, also panting, looked around in confusion "It simply… Disappeared."

The boy continued to look around, confused and wondering where the figure could have gone when…

SPLOSH!

"Huh? What…" Inigo looked to his feet and noticed he stepped on a weird, slimy, dark colored substance.

"ARGH!" He retreated in disgust, rubbing his feet on the ground trying to get rid of the strange thing "Gross! Gross! Gross! What the hell is this thing?! I just hope this isn't what I think it is!"

"Inigo!" Severa called for him, pointing to something on the ground.

"What?! Can't you see I'm… Huh?" Inigo looked to where Severa pointed and saw pieces of glass scattered on the grass, all near the weird substance and some even covered on it.

"Glass? But why…"

Both also noticed broken branches lying on the ground and immediately looked up. Like in the previous clearing, a hole of missing branches was visible between the leaves.

" _Broken branches… Glass… That weird thing…"_ With these details, Severa could come with one conclusion:

"I think we found where the incident with Sumia happened."

"The incident with Sumia? So, this thing is…?" Inigo pointed to the substance in his feet.

"Yes… It's just jam." Severa rolled her eyes, not noticing how relieved Inigo was to hear that.

"I'm forced to admit: we had luck that moron ran to this direction, because I don't think we would have found this place on our own. It's so deep in the forest no one with a sane mind would try to come here." She declared walking around and scanning the place.

It was a very small clearing, with little to see. Aside from the broken pots, the branches and the jam, there was absolutely nothing different from any other clearing. The place was so normal Severa began questioning herself if it was worth investigating it.

"Sincerely, I don't see anything." She looked up again "Not even that is very… Huh?"

By looking at the hole a second time, Severa noticed a little detail she missed: there was ONE branch that hadn't broken. It was bigger than the others lying on the ground, but compared to the big one in the other clearing it was nothing.

"Inigo, per everything we heard until now, what hit Sumia was probably the same thing Gerome and Cynthia saw, right?" Severa asked.

The boy seemed a bit confused by her question.

"Yes, or at least that's what everyone believes. Why?"

She pointed to the branch.

"See that branch? It's bigger than the others on the ground."

"Yes, but what's wrong with it? It's bigger than the others, so it's probably sturdier than them." He bluntly answered.

The girl facepalmed.

"Are you daft? It's much smaller than the one we saw in the other clearing!"

Inigo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, my gods! Is it so hard to understand? Inigo, think!" She glared at him "You said whatever took flight from the other clearing was strong or big enough to break that branch, didn't you?"

"Yes." Inigo answered, still trying to understand what Severa was trying to point out.

"What hit Sumia fell and broke these branches…" She pointed to the smaller branches on the ground "But couldn't break that one." She pointed to the branch above her "In other words, it wasn't big or heavy enough for that. Which means…"

"Wait!" Inigo interrupted, realizing what she meant "Are you saying what hit Sumia and what Gerome and Cynthia saw in the woods are different things? But if that's the case, then…"

"Then Lucina could have heard the pots breaking." Severa finished for him "What happened to Sumia was later that day, so no more time inconsistency." She smiled "In other words: Lucina told the truth and now we can prove it."

"Although that's something I would love to agree with, there're some problems with that theory." Inigo pointed out "The branch didn't break, but we have nothing here to prove it was something different. Even if it was, the branch by itself isn't an evidence strong enough. We would need something else to prove it was a different object, but where could we look for…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Inigo felt a buff of hot air on the back of his head and saw Severa's face changing to a scared expression. Cold sweat began to roll down his face and his legs trembled lightly.

"Severa… Please… Don't tell me the wyvern…"

She didn't have to tell him; the wyvern roared to make clear he was present.

 **In front of Demon's Bed, September 25** **th** **, 8:24 AM**

"What the hell is this?" Gangrel dryly asked to no one in specific.

The inn he and Emmeryn were looking for was right in front of them, but wasn't exactly what they expected.

It was an old two floors building made of wood with lots of cuts made by weapons of all types and sizes on the outside, many broken windows and lots of noises coming from inside. Between the sounds, they could hear people yelling, glass breaking, maniacal laughs and what was probably a piano being destroyed.

"That man calls this an inn?" Gangrel retorted his face "And I thought I was mad…"

Emmeryn looked a bit unsure of what was that place or what was happening inside, but put all these thoughts aside and bravely walked towards the inn, determined to fulfill the task Morgan gave her.

Gangrel, on other hand, wasn't so sure if going there was a good idea and stopped Emmeryn on her tracks by holding her arm.

"I don't think you should go there." He kept holding her arm, but felt the pile of things he was holding getting dangerously unbalanced and had to quickly let go of her and put his hand under the pile again.

"Why… Do you… Think so?" Emmeryn asked.

Before Gangrel could say anything, a man was thrown out of one window on the second floor straight to the ground right in front of them. Emmeryn jumped startled and instinctively grabbed Gangrel's arm, making him feel slightly unease.

"Is this all you got?!" The man who was thrown from the window quickly got up and adjusted his clothes "I'll show you how a true man fights!" He went running back inside.

Emmeryn kept a confused stare while Gangrel just shook his head.

"That's why I think you shouldn't go there." He said trying to get free from Emmeryn's grasp "Going in there would be suicide and I can't let anything bad happen to you."

Emmeryn widened her eyes and stared at the man.

"You… Can't?" She asked.

"Of course." The former king kept trying to get free from her "You're under my responsibility no matter how much I dislike it, and if something bad happens to you, something bad happens to me."

"Oh…" Emmeryn looked disappointed at his answer, which made Gangrel raise an eyebrow.

"In any case…" He decided to ignore the former Exalt's expression "If that guy thought I would be mad enough to enter there, then he's surely madder than me."

He tried to turn around and walk away, but Emmeryn held him in place.

"Huh?"

"We have to… Enter." She had a determined expression in her face.

"Which part of 'it would be suicide' you didn't understand? We aren't going in there." Gangrel huffed grumpy.

"Lucina… Needs our… Help…" Emmeryn insisted.

"If she needs or not isn't my problem." Gangrel retorted "Did you see that place? It's overflowing with people of the worst kind. I can't think of a place more suiting for me, but you have no chance of surviving there. Forget it. We aren't going."

He tried to walk away again, but Emmeryn didn't let him leave. Annoyed, Gangrel tried some more times, but she gave him a serious face and pushed him back. They remained in that tug-of-war for a few seconds until the red-haired man couldn't take it anymore.

"What's wrong with you?! And how on Earth do you have enough strength to hold me in place?! Weren't you supposed to be debilitated?!" He angrily complained.

"We can't… Leave…" Emmeryn said with determination.

"Oh, really? And what do you suggest then?" He asked mockingly "Look at yourself! How much time do you think they would need to make short story of you? Two minutes? Three?"

"I have… You…"

"And do you think I would be stupid enough to face dozens of armed people just to protect you?" He sneered.

"But…" Gangrel's statement made Emmeryn lose her composure and she was clearly upset "Morgan said…"

"What the Grandmaster's pest of a daughter said doesn't matter."

Feeling the woman's grasp on him loosening, Gangrel pulled his arm and finally set himself free.

"You know what?" He gave her an irritated look and put the pile of gifts she received on the grass "I'm full of babysitting you. I won't carry your trash anymore, I won't listen to any of your ridiculous talks with the people of this place one single more second and I don't care if they'll arrest, torture or kill me for leaving you anymore." He crossed his arms and looked away "My life isn't worth a single coin, much less standing you. If you want to go there, then you can go alone."

Gangrel's words pierced through Emmeryn's heart like a heated knife cutting butter.

"Alone…?" She asked heartbroken.

"Yes. Alone." He repeated indifferent "You were just a problem to me and I don't want you anymore. End of story."

A problem? Yes, she was just a problem. She couldn't fight, she couldn't rule the Halidom, she couldn't even do something as simple as walking in city or go shopping without needing help.

She was exactly what Gangrel said: a problem, only that.

Without saying anything else, Emmeryn turned around and silently walked to the inn. She wasn't going to give up yet, but she didn't want to be a burden for Gangrel anymore, so if he wanted her to go alone, alone she would go.

She left so quietly Gangrel didn't notice her leaving. He remained with his back turned to her and arms crossed, waiting for an answer. Of course, he could simply leave and spare himself of Emmeryn's stubbornness, but for some reason he wanted to know how she would react.

Which means the silence made him notice something was wrong.

Gangrel turned around and became surprised to see Emmeryn had already left. For a moment, he wondered where she could have gone, but his words came back to him and he discovered where she went.

" _I can't believe this… She really went in that place alone?"_ He asked himself a bit worried, but shook his head and turned around again.

" _Whatever…"_ He began to walk away _"If she wants to die, who am I to stop her? I don't care."_

Yes, he didn't care if she was defenseless and entered in a place full of criminals or if she could easily be robbed of all her belongings or kidnapped by a sick person and sold in the black market or murdered by some rebel against the government or molested by a freaky…

"GAH!"

And, for reasons neither he knew, Gangrel turned around and went running after Emmeryn.

 **Main square of Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 8:44 AM**

It had been a long time since Walhart went back to questioning… At least try to question the people in the square, but Yen'fay was still sitting on the same bench they were many minutes before.

He wasn't a man that gave up easily, but considering how things were going for him being demotivated was completely understandable. He felt miserable for failing something so easy as questioning people and to add insult to injury the first person he successfully questioned was a very unpleasant one.

That man called Yubari was clearly mocking him and Walhart and kept saying cryptic things. Why the first person they managed to question had to be such a jerk?

"I JUST WANT TO MAKE A QUESTION!" Yen'fay heard Walhart yelling from somewhere amidst the crowd of people.

He just sighed. If things continued like that, they would never finish their job, but he couldn't think of a way to solve their problem.

Walhart was too loud and scared people away, while he couldn't make his presence noticed. If there was a solution to that, what was it?

" _The problem may be the way you two are working."_

For some reason, the words Yubari said before returned rushing to Yen'fay's mind, echoing in his ears like he had just heard the man himself saying them again. Why was he remembering them so suddenly?

" _You, my good man, has a voice that calms people, but can't face the noisy mess of the everyday. On other hand, your friend has a voice of a great leader, that has an air of strength and authority, but sounds too menacing for the common people."_

A voice that calms people… The voice of a great leader…

" _Your qualities cover the other's defects."_

Each other's defects…

" _The optimal choice would be to work TOGETHER."_

And an idea beamed like the radiant sunlight of the morning sun.

"W-what do you want, sir?!" A young man selling nuts apprehensively asked the enormous armored figure in front of him.

"Why are you stuttering?! I just want to make a question!" Walhart angrily answered.

"SO WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!" The man answered back.

"AND WHY ARE **YOU** YELLING?!"

Noticing the situation, Yen'fay rushed to Walhart's side and quickly intervened before they lost another chance.

"Excuse me, sir." The Swordmaster jumped between the Conqueror and the man "I'm sorry for the trouble, but my…"

He looked at Walhart, a bit unsure if he could finish the sentence like originally planned, but decided it would be for the best and simply finished with a smile.

"My friend just wanted to make you some questions."

The sudden 'friend' part caught Walhart by surprise. Of all people, Yen'fay was the last one he expected to call him a friend.

"Huh? It was just that? And why didn't he say it before?!" The man complained.

"BUT I DID!" The Conqueror angrily retorted.

"In any case…" Yen'fay quickly cut them before things went out of control "We received orders from a high authority to ask people in the area about some rumors spread during the first night of the festival."

"The first night?"

"Yes, more specifically anything related to wolves or wild animals around the village." Yen'fay detailed "Would you know something?"

The man rubbed his chin thoughtful.

"Now that you mentioned…" He began "I heard rumors about an animal around the village." He then scratched his head "But I don't know what it was. Not only because I didn't see it, but everyone has a different version of the story."

Yen'fay and Walhart raised an eyebrow.

"A different version?" The Conqueror asked.

"Yup. Some people around the village said a wolf was seen nearby during the first night of the festival, but I heard from some guys who live near the market a few blocks away it was a bear." He then pointed to a tavern on the other side of the street "And some people in that tavern said it wasn't a regular animal."

"What do you mean?" It was the Swordmaster's time to question.

"They said it was too slender to be a bear, but too big to be a wolf. On top of that, it had very small paws, like way too small to be any of these animals. Oh!" The man remembered another thing "Some people also claim to have seen flying creatures in that same night!"

"Flying creatures?" Yen'fay furrowed his brow. Didn't Morgan's reports state something about unidentified flying objects involved in the testimonies?

"Four, to be more exact." The man added "One of them I know what is."

"What?" Walhart inquired an answer.

"A wyvern. It's a very old wyvern that seems to be living in Ever Woods. It moved there during the night of the first festival, a bit before the merchants mounted the stalls. Everyone noticed, but it went straight to the woods and wyverns, especially the older ones, prefer to stay away from people, so we didn't worry about that. We even saw it flying around this morning."

He then proceeded.

"The other three are what made us a bit worried. Some people said they saw a second flying creature later that night. They say it looked like a wyvern and most of us dismissed it as being the same wyvern we saw earlier, but some are convinced it was a different creature. After that, we also heard rumors of a third flying creature. No one knows what was it or how it looked because it was already too dark, but a few people claim it came from that direction." He pointed to a hill far away from the village "Some even say there was an explosion before the thing appeared."

Yen'fay and Walhart exchanged a confused look.

"The fourth flying creature is the most mysterious of all. Only three people claim to have seen it. Per them, it was near Ever Woods, two or three minutes after eight, I'm not sure, and the creature was hit by something and fell in the forest."

"No one looked for it?" Yen'fay asked.

"Some people tried, but they didn't find anything. It probably survived the fall and left before anyone approached." He explained "After all these weird events, people became very scared and demanded the guards to discover what happened, but they couldn't find any signs of wolves, bears, wyverns or anything like that, so routine slowly returned to normal."

Yen'fay and Walhart exchanged another confused look. What happened that night?

"Would you know anyone else who could give us more information about these events?" Yen'fay turned his gaze to the man.

"You can ask anyone in the square, as most people who were in the first night are still here, but I can't promise they'll help you much better than me. There're too many rumors around and each one has a theory."

"Very well. Thank you for your time, sir. You were of great help." Yen'fay thanked. The man then said goodbye and went back to his nuts.

The Swordmaster's mind was at a million; what seemed to be an easy task now looked very difficult. If a simple question led to so many variables, then Lucina's case was surely a very intriguing one.

Of course, it could all be just a prank of destiny. Maybe all things could have happened in the same night by coincidence and weren't related to the case at all. But so many apparently random things happening at the same time, exactly when Lucina was accused of murder?

IT sounded fishy.

"What exactly happened?" Walhart suddenly asked. He didn't specify what he was talking about, but he didn't need to; Yen'fay knew he was surprised to see how they managed to successfully question someone after so many failures.

"Walhart…" Yen'fay called, turning to the Conqueror "You probably won't like to hear what I'm about to say, and I confess I don't like to hear ME saying this but…" He gave the man a weak smile "I think Yubari was right. The optimal choice is for us to work TOGETHER."

Walhart looked a bit unsure of what Yen'fay was talking about, but the man's gentle expression took away any insecurity he felt.

"Very well." He announced "If that's the optimal choice… Let's do it." And for the first time after so many years, Walhart smiled. It was a weak smile, but one nonetheless.

After that, things went much smoother for the duo; Walhart would use his undeniable presence to call people and Yen'fay would use his calm and soft tone to make the questions. In less than fifteen minutes, they successfully questioned double the people they TRIED before teaming up.

Yubari was right after all. They covered each other's defects and that's what they should have done since the very beginning.

What made said man, who was secretly watching them out of their sight, extremely satisfied.

"Oh, but father's going to love this…"

 **Cicada Street, Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 8:56 AM**

"Ok… Ok… Alright. Thanks, Cynthia. If I discover something else, I'll call you." With that, Morgan finished the call and pocketed her phone disappointed.

"So… What did she say?" Priam asked the Proxy.

Morgan sighed. After hearing what Sapphire and her parents had to say, they left the house and she began making lots of calls. She called for everyone in the Secret Service and the Special Operations Unit for information about the night of the crime, but she only heard what she had already in the court: Lucina found in the woods, Nikolai dead, rumors of animals… Nothing new.

Then, she decided to call Cynthia. Per the testimonies, she and Gerome arrived when the festival began, but if that was the case, then they arrived much BEFORE Lucina, which contradicted what Sapphire said about seeing Gerome in the festival AFTER she met with the princess. That's when a question came to her mind: how did Cynthia know they arrived when the festival began?

"Well…" Morgan began "Cynthia said she and Gerome arrived when the festival began and knows it because they looked at the clock tower and the time was eight o'clock." She rubbed the back of her head "Then, I told her what we heard from Sapphire and her parents and she became just as confused as me."

"In other words, another dead end." Priam simply said, to which Morgan nodded disappointed.

"This's very weird." Priam proceeded, putting a hand on his chin "The stories don't connect. It's seems like there's something off."

"It doesn't seem, it's very CLEAR there's something off." Morgan stated annoyed at how much headache she was having because of that case.

" _Chrom better have made a good paycheck for me, or the little 'toilet incident' will spread much farther than the court's walls."_ The Proxy mentally threatened.

Nothing made sense anymore. The times discrepancy became WORSE and she couldn't figure out what was the problem. All things considered, she could think of only three possibilities:

One: there was a crucial evidence or fact they were missing or;

Two: someone lied or, in the worst scenario possible;

Three: both.

" _What time is it?"_ Morgan's mind suddenly changed the subject, unconsciously trying to get as far as possible from the problem at hand.

She reached for her phone and took it from the pocket, but before she could do anything else, a black feathered blur came from nowhere and snatched it from her hand.

"HEY!" Morgan yelled, chasing the crow "Deliver it, you stupid black flying chicken!"

Priam was distracted and didn't notice the crow stealing Morgan's phone; he only saw the girl running down the street at full speed.

Even though he didn't know what happened, he decided to go after her. She surely had a good reason to do that and a little exercise wouldn't kill anyone.

 **The Demon's Bed, September 25** **th** **, 9:04 AM**

"Emmeryn! Emmeryn!" Gangrel called between the people crowded inside the inn, eyes darting every corner "EMMERYN!"

It had been long twenty minutes of fruitless search inside the incredibly messy inn. There were people everywhere, drinking, fighting, dancing or simply acting the stupidest ways possible. A bottle broke at every second, tables were destroyed, someone was thrown out the window every five minutes and the chandelier was being used to roast sweet potatoes.

"Where the hell is she?!" He yelled to himself.

Why was he so worried about Emmeryn, who once was his mortal enemy?

Maybe because they weren't enemies anymore. Maybe because she healed his wounds in battle despite everything. Maybe it was guilt for what he caused her. Maybe guilt for what he said.

Or maybe it was something else.

But the reason didn't matter; he just wanted to find her and get out of there as soon as possible.

No matter how dangerous that place was, he would find her and take her back to safety, whatever the cost. His mind demanded it.

Finally, after searching the whole place with his eyes for the eighth time he saw her. She was on the second floor, apparently well and safe, even smiling a bit. Seeing her made him strangely relieved.

But his relief was short lived. Emmeryn wasn't alone; there was someone with her. He couldn't see the person's face or what exactly he or she dressed from where he was. The only thing he saw was the person conducting Emmeryn somewhere while holding a very sharp looking knife.

Gangrel didn't think twice; he unsheathed his sword, climbed up the stairs and ran at full speed in their direction, pushing anyone in his way. He didn't care for these random characters who aren't even worth citing or detailing, he only cared for one person.

The person he never thought he would care about.

"PUT THAT KNIFE DOWN IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!" Gangrel yelled, finally arriving where Emmeryn was and pointing the tip of his sword at the unknown person's face…

Only to notice it was a woman who was using the knife to cut a pie.

"Put the knife down?" The woman asked innocently "But if I do that, how can I cut the pie?"

"What… How… When… Uh…" Gangrel felt a mix of confusion and embarrassment "What is happening here?"

"I'm cutting a pie. Isn't it obvious?" The woman joked, much to his annoyance.

She was a slender, tall woman with soft features, long hair of a deep black, yellow eyes that looked to be made of venom and pale skin. She was dressed with what seemed to be darkish purple version of a Sage's clothes and had a crow tattooed on her left hand. She was sitting on a table and (like she said before) was cutting a pie.

Sitting at her right, Emmeryn stared confused at Gangrel.

"Gangrel?" She asked, unable to believe her eyes.

"Gangrel? This guy?" The woman pointed to the former king. Emmeryn looked at her and nodded.

"Oh, so you're Gangrel!" She looked at the man with a fake smile "The amazing friend that leaves a poor woman to face the ugliness and sourness of the world all by herself, even though she's still fragilized! What a great man! You disgust me!"

"That's MY problem." He grumbled, sheathing his sword.

"Why… Are you… Here?" Emmeryn asked.

"Yes, why are you here?" The woman glared at him "I thought you didn't care for her. Unless…"

Gangrel avoided eye contact.

"AWWWWWW! You DO care for her, don't you? That's why you came back!" The woman mocked.

"Shut up!" Gangrel scowled.

"See! He totally cares for you!" She turned to Emmeryn, who looked a bit surprised.

"If the only thing you're going to do is mock me, then I'll leave! It's very clear she's in good hands." Gangrel turned around, ready to leave.

"And if she wasn't? What would you do?" The woman teased.

He didn't answer. Not because he didn't want, but because he didn't know how.

"Besides…" The woman continued with a teasing tone "If you leave now, you won't hear about the juicy details I have to tell."

"Juicy details?" Gangrel turned around.

"Ah… Got your interest?" She mocked again "Please, take a seat." She pointed to a chair nearby.

The red-haired man didn't want to stay near that annoying woman, but he had little choice so decided to stay. Besides, despite what he said before, he wasn't 100% sure if it was safe to leave Emmeryn with her, so…

"Fine…" He got the chair and positioned it closer to the table "What are these 'juicy details' you have to tell me?"

The woman giggled.

"Well, before you arrived, your sweet friend told me why such a lovely lady would come to a horrible place like this."

"If you think this place is horrible, why did you come here?" Gangrel mocked.

"To be sincere…" She giggled again "I came here because I knew who would come here."

Gangrel's mocking face disappeared and he raised an eyebrow. What did she mean with that?

"Oh, my! But where are my manner? I never told you my name. I'm Cherry." The woman, whose name now we know, presented herself.

"Cherry?" Gangrel asked.

"Yes, because I'm a sweetie."

" _And without a drop of humility, I see…"_ He sneered in his thoughts.

"Don't look at me like that. This name was carefully chosen by my dear father." Cherry said, noticing Gangrel's face "And my dear father is always right."

"Yeah, yeah… Whatever…" Gangrel shook a hand dismissively "Now, back to the main subject…"

"Aren't you an impatient one?" Cherry mocked "Alright, alright… Like I was saying, your friend told me why she was here and I happen to have some knowledge about said explosion."

That statement caught Gangrel's interest and he inched closer to the table. Noticing his reaction, Cherry giggled, which made the man return to his original place.

"Spill it." He ordered.

"I will, but first there's something I would like to do." Cherry announced and got up.

"What now?" Gangrel asked irritated.

"Impatient AND curious, I see… Now, now… Making too many questions to a lady is very rude, especially if the questions are about something private." She raised a finger and poked his nose, irritating him even more "Don't worry, I won't take more than five minutes. Meanwhile, be a good boy and take care of her, ok?" Cherry pointed to Emmeryn, blinked an eye to her and left.

With that, Gangrel and Emmeryn were left in an awkward situation. She didn't know if he was willing to talk, and he wasn't sure if he should say something, so the best thing to do was to stay quiet.

"Gangrel…" Emmeryn suddenly called for him "Why did… You… Return?"

Gangrel turned his face away.

"Why… Did you… Come after… Me?"

Still no answer.

"I thought… I thought… I was… Only…" Emmeryn's heart felt heavy "A problem…"

…

"Yes, you're a problem." Gangrel simply said "You're MY problem."

Emmeryn widened her eyes in surprise. MY problem? What did he mean with 'my'?

Neither Gangrel knew exactly what he meant with it; he simply said the first thing that came to his mind, just like he rushed inside the inn after Emmeryn, carried her stupid gifts, endured her talking nonstop to the ridiculous people of that ridiculous country and worried about her without giving a second thought to any of these things.

He simply did it and felt strangely satisfied with himself for that.

"Thank you…" Emmeryn said smiling and feeling a pleasant warmth in her chest.

" _Why is she thanking me?"_ Gangrel asked himself, still refusing to look at her. It was intriguing she thanked him after all the horrible things he said, but what intrigued him the most was how much satisfaction he felt for hearing that.

"See? I didn't take even a minute!" Cherry returned smiley and holding a bottle of wine and three glasses.

"That's what you wanted to do?" The red-haired man grumbled.

"Aw, relax a bit, man! Stress is bad for the health. Besides…" She opened the bottle and poured some wine in one glass "You would have to be an idiot of enormous proportions to refuse a glass of Black Sea Delight." Cherry approached the glass to Gangrel's face and the sweet aroma of the drink infested his nose, prompting him to take it.

"Of course, a bit for you too, my dear." Cherry filled another glass and gave it to Emmeryn, who accepted shyly "Now… What were we going to do again?"

Gangrel leered at her.

"Just joking…" Cherry giggled "Let's see… Where do I begin?"

 **Main square of Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 9:16 AM**

"Come on, Priam! Hold me higher!" Morgan complained, still trying to reach the crow.

"I'm trying!" Priam complained back, struggling to keep balance while Morgan stood up on his shoulders.

That scene was calling a lot of attention; everyone that passed by would glance at the girl trying to grab a crow on the bakery's roof for reasons unknown.

"Morgan, don't you think we're calling too much attention?" Priam asked.

"I don't care if we're calling attention! I want my phone back! That thing was expensive, did you know?!" She grumbled, still trying to get her cell phone.

The crow simply stood motionless, the phone under his left leg, watching Morgan's futile attempts to grab him.

"You little stupid bird, give it back before I roast you with potatoes!" Morgan threatened, to which the crow answered with a simple:

"Caw!"

" _Ok, Morgan… Calm down… If threats won't work, maybe gentleness will."_ Morgan thought.

"Hey, Mr. Crow! I'm sorry for yelling at you!" She said, trying to sound the most innocent as possible "That thing you have there is VERY important to me! If you give it back, Auntie Morgan will do something nice to you! What do you like? Do you like sweet corn?"

"Caw!"

"That's great!" She clapped her hands "Let's make a deal: if you give me my cell phone back, I'll buy a sweet corn for you? What do you say?"

"Caw!"

"Good! Now, give me my phone!" Morgan extended her hand.

"Caw!"

"Come on!"

"Caw!"

"Come on!"

"Caw!"

"COME ON!"

"Caw!"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"Caw!"

"YOU SON OF A GRIMA!"

The bird continued to caw meaninglessly, which infuriated Morgan even more. After a few more moments of conflict, the crow took his foot off the phone and pushed it with his beak to Morgan's direction.

"Yes! That's right! Give it to me!" Morgan encouraged.

The crow continued to push the phone little by little, slowly getting closer to the anxious girl. When it was only a few centimeters from her hands, the crow pushed it to another side. The phone slipped off the roof and fell straight on the sidewalk made of hard rock.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Morgan cried desperately as the phone touched the ground.

The crow cawed satisfied and took flight.

"YOU FREAKING SON OF A GRIMA! YOU BETTER FLEE TO SOMEWHERE VERY FAR AWAY BECAUSE I'M GOING TO RAPE YOU!" Morgan yelled furiously at the leaving crow "Priam! Put me down! Put me down now!"

"Ok, ok! Calm down!" Priam kneeled to allow Morgan get down of his shoulders.

She ran to get her phone and took a good look at it, checking cautiously at every corner looking for cracks or any serious damage.

"Thank the gods it only scratched the screen a bit!" Morgan said relieved "Stupid crow! Nearly destroyed my phone and made me lose time! Look at this!" She pointed to the clock in her phone "It's already nine nineteen and we still have a lot to investigate!"

"Uh… Morgan…" Priam called.

"What?" She glanced at him. Priam pointed to the clock tower and Morgan noticed what he wanted to show.

Her phone showed it was nine nineteen, but on the clock tower it was nine twenty-five.

"What the…?" Morgan stared confused at the clock. It was six minutes ahead. How could it be?

The Proxy noticed a man, brown hair, sleeveless shirt covered of oil and blue pants, leaving the clock tower and ran to him. She didn't know if he could explain that, but that man was her best bet.

"Excuse me, sir." She called for the man, who stopped in place and glanced at her.

"Yes?" The man asked.

"I was here in the square and noticed the clock…" Morgan pointed up.

"Huh? What about…" The man followed her finger and looked at the time. He then took a small round clock of his pocket, checked it and sighed.

"Oh, no… Again?"

"Again?" Morgan raised an eyebrow "What?"

"The clock is wrong again." He pocketed his clock "It's the second time today. The first was earlier, a bit before five. I thought I had fixed that, but it's still broken." He looked up and scratched his head.

"Care to explain?" Morgan asked.

"No, it would be a pleasure." The man answered and proceeded to tell what he knew.

"A few days ago, some people told me the clock was wrong. I went to check it and they were right. For some reason, which I still don't know, the mechanism isn't working properly and the clock keeps showing the wrong time. Sometimes it goes faster than it should and sometimes it goes slower."

"A few days?" Morgan asked intrigued "How many?"

"Four days."

"Four days? But that means…"

A realization came to Morgan's mind.

"The clock showed the wrong time during the first night of the festival?" She asked.

"Yes, it did. Actually, because of that little problem the festival began earlier." The man answered.

"Earlier?" Morgan rubbed her chin "How much exactly?"

"Ah, much earlier. When it was seven twenty-five, the clock tower was showing seven fifty-five. Because of that, people began mounting the stalls a lot before the scheduled. I fixed the clock and told everyone, but since everything was ready, they decided to start the festival anyways. I even think it was good, we had more time to enjoy."

"How many times did the clock show the wrong time that day?" Morgan asked.

"Three, if my memory doesn't fail me." The man answered.

"And do you remember when?"

"Hum… No, I don't. I'm sorry" The man suddenly slapped his forehead "Oh, boy! Why am I trying to remember if I have this?"

He searched in his pockets for something and took out a small piece of folded paper.

"What is that?" Morgan asked, looking curiously at the paper.

"It's a little note I made." He answered "I was writing down when the clock stopped and which time it showed. I thought it would be useful to fix the mechanism, but… Yeah, it's completely useless." He admitted a bit embarrassed.

"In that case…" Morgan kept her eyes on the little paper "Can I have it?"

"Sure, it has no use for me." He handed her the paper, a bit curious about what she was going to do with it or how it could help her.

"Thank you, sir. It'll be very useful for me." The Proxy thanked with a wide smile.

"No problem." He smiled back "Well, now if you excuse me, I have to fix the clock again. With some luck, it'll be the last time I have to do it."

With that said, he turned around and entered in the clock tower. Morgan looked at the paper in her hands anxiously. It could have the answer she was looking for, but for some reason she was a bit afraid of reading its content.

Since they spoke with Sapphire and her parents, an idea had been insistently poking her in the back of her head, but she would always push it to the side. Why? Because that idea sounded simply absurd. Morgan believed with all her forces it couldn't be it. How could it?

But the more she thought about it, the more insistent the idea became and the more it returned to her. No matter how many times Morgan denied it, one thing she had to admit: if that idea she had was right, then the whole problem of the time inconsistency could be solved. However, it would also mean a very nasty thing…

"What's that?" Priam asked Morgan, finally getting to her side and noticing the paper in her hands.

She didn't answer; Morgan was too busy gathering courage to say anything. She had to look at it, because the answers she wanted (and maybe some she didn't) were probably there.

"Morgan?" Priam called for the girl, confused at her sudden silence.

Without saying a single word, Morgan took a deep breath and unfolded the paper. She carefully scanned everything the man wrote, trying to find any connection to the testimonies.

Then, her eyes widened in shock as she saw what she feared to see.

Unable to believe, Morgan read the line again. Unsatisfied, she read it another three times. The words never changed, the letters were always in the same place… There was no mistake.

"Oh, no…" Morgan sighed, covering her face with one hand.

"What? Did you discover something?" Priam asked confused.

"I did, but…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"Morgan, what's wrong?" Priam put a hand on her shoulder "What's written there? Is it something that can be used against Lucina?"

"More or less." Morgan simply answered, turning her face away.

"More or less? What do you mean?" Priam asked, still confused.

That was a very sensitive topic and she had to choose her words carefully.

"Well, what's written in the paper combined with everything we discovered and the testimonies we heard in the court gives me reasons…"

She took a deep breath, furrowed her brow, turned around and finally revealed what she had been thinking:

"Gives me reasons to believe Lucina lied in her testimony."

Priam stared incredulous at Morgan, unable to believe what she just said. Meanwhile, the same crow that stole the Proxy's phone watched the two with a glimpse of curiosity shining in his eyes.

Maybe he should wait a bit more before returning. His father and siblings would surely understand it was for the greater good.

 **To be continued…**

 _It's finally over!_

 _Guys, I'm so sorry for the long delay, but I had some serious problems with this story._

 _I had difficulty to work with the mystery because I simply SUCK at making mystery, but I decided to make one for the plot, so this is my own fault… :.(_

 _Not only that, but I also had a terrible creative block and everything I wrote was messed. To add insult to injury, I compared the newer chapters with the older ones and noticed a drop in quality that I couldn't find a way to fix._

 _All these things mixed together seriously hurt my motivation and I nearly gave up on this story, explaining the lack of updates._

 _I only recovered my motivation recently, mostly because during my time of inactivity I had ideas for more stories, which restored my will to write._

 _I won't lie: my feelings for Morgan Ace Attorney are still a bit mixed, but I'm feeling mostly satisfied with this chapter and may even start the other stories I imagined sometime soon._

 _Also, stupidly long chapter… I think it's the longest of all until now._

 _With all this said and done, now I can only hope this chapter was worth the long delay and thank everyone who kept up with this story despite all the odds from the bottom of my heart._

…

 _Man, that sounded awkward… Better leave before I say some other stupid thing._

 _See you later!_


	7. Invasions and Lies Before the Trial

_Guys, I'll have to ask for your patience, because this chapter is ridiculously long with lots of dialogues AND explanations, so things may get very boring._

 _On the bright side, this is the last chapter about the investigation and in the next one we'll be back to the court and the action!_

 _Now, before I forget:_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Morgan Ace Attorney belongs to me. Fire Emblem, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, Monster Hunter, Super Mario and any other franchise I mentioned before (because I can't remember all now) belong to their respective creators._

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 7: Invasions and Lies Before the Trial**

 **Main square of Aeternum Village, September 25** **th** **, 9:33 AM**

"Morgan, are you sure about it?" Priam asked worried, his mind still processing everything the girl had just told him.

"No, I'm not." Morgan answered emotionless "And that's why I can't eliminate that possibility. At least, not yet."

"But… Do you think Lucina would really…?"

"That's what I've been asking myself since we left Sapphire's house." She rubbed the back of her head "I didn't want to think that, but after reading this…" The girl looked uneasily at the small piece of paper in her hand.

Priam nodded, although a bit reluctant. There was no doubt Morgan's theory was plausible and they had evidence to sustain it, but… Lucina lying in her testimony? That sounded simply ridiculous.

Many things about the case were ridiculous, though…

RIIIING! RIIIING!

Morgan's phone suddenly broke the silence. She wasn't in the best mood to answer calls and thought about ignoring it, but ultimately decided it would be much better to busy her mind with something else than her theory and the unpleasant feeling it left. Besides, it could be important; not many people had her number, but five of them (Brady, Severa, Maggot, Tick and Flea) were playing a major role in the investigation and could discover something big at any time.

Morgan took her phone, looked at the screen and saw 'Maggot' in it. She slid her finger and answered the call.

"Morgan here."

" _Madam Morgan, it's Maggot."_ The man said.

"I know. The screen delated you." She joked "Something happened?"

" _Uh…"_

Morgan raised an eyebrow. Maggot rarely showed nervousness or insecurity, which meant whatever happened was serious.

Or extremely stupid.

" _Madam, I know we agreed to meet again only at eleven, and there's still a lot of time until that, but… I believe we should…"_ Maggot cleaned his throat _"Abort the mission."_

That statement got Morgan by surprise.

"Abort the mission? Why?" She asked worried.

" _I can't tell you all the details, because…"_ Morgan heard Maggot scratching his head _"I promised not to, but I ensure it'll be for the best."_

"Uh… Well, if you say so…" Morgan rubbed her chin confused "But what about the investigation?"

" _Don't worry. Your friends made an excellent job and gathered lots of useful information already."_ The man secured _"I believe what they got is more than enough."_

Hearing that made Morgan both satisfied and surprised. Satisfied, because it meant her plan worked and she had nothing to worry. Surprised, because… Well, although she never doubted their abilities, she wasn't 100% sure calling them was the best idea and expected things going downhill at some point.

Knowing they gathered useful information in such a short time was quite unexpected. Knowing they gathered useful information in such a short time without killing themselves was even more unexpected.

"But that's great news!" Morgan celebrated "In that case, gather everyone and meet us in front of Ylisse Castle at ten."

" _There's no need to gather them. They all are already here with me."_ Maggot stated.

"Wait… Really?" That confused Morgan a bit "Why?"

" _Uh… Due to my… Promise… I can't tell you, madam."_ Maggot said awkwardly _"At least not now."_ He whispered that last part.

"Huh… Ok, then?" Morgan half stated, half asked, confused at the man's unusual attitude "So… Just meet us in front of the castle, alright?"

" _Understood."_ Maggot confirmed and finished the call.

Morgan pocketed the phone and scratched her head. What happened to make Maggot ask to abort the mission? And what was that 'promise' he kept talking about?

The crow that watched the whole scene from the roof of a house not far away wondered if he should follow the Proxy and her companion or return home. He hadn't contacted his father or any of his siblings yet and he was supposed to return a long time ago, but that little meeting wasn't predicted by his father.

He ultimately decided to wait a bit more and keep an eye on them.

 **Meanwhile…**

He calmly admired the view he loved so much while tasting some delectable crystalized fruits imported from Valm. He wasn't picky, but it was good to eat something more… Refined, sometimes.

He wasn't the only one to think like that; his children also liked to have a 'luxurious' snack from time to time and his beloved wife was a great lover of the most exotic delicacies.

He would do anything to see her smile again, even if just once more.

"It is very rude to enter without asking." He said jokingly to the figure that entered his office without announcing.

"I'm sorry, father." The man of soft features, deep black hair and yellow eyes giggled "But you always know when I'm nearby. I thought it would be… Unnecessary."

"It may be, but do not forget what your mother taught you…" He turned to face his son with an evil smile "If you do not make clear it is you…"

"I may end up cutting your head off before I discover." The young man finished for his father, a big smile in his face and a sinister shine in his eyes.

"You remember your mother's words very well." He turned around to face the view again "It fills me with happiness to know you have not forgotten your sweet, delicate mother yet."

"I would never forget her." The young man assured with a faint tone of sadness in his voice.

It had been a long time now, but the memories of his dear wife were still fresh, like everything had just happened. He missed her, his children missed her… But she was gone and they could do nothing about that.

Nothing, except honor her name doing what they had to.

"Yubari, have your siblings returned?" He asked without turning.

"Not yet." Yubari answered "But Cherry and Lime already contacted me. They successfully finished their duties and are in their way back home."

Hearing that made him smile widely.

"Excellent." He put some more pieces of fruit in his mouth "Everything is going smoothly… Exactly like I predicted… However…" He turned around to face Yubari again "You only spoke of your sisters. What about your brother?"

"I don't know why, but Pear hasn't made contact yet." Yubari stated "I can't feel his presence as well, so he must be far away from here."

"Interesting…" The man rubbed his chin with a smile "Your brother is an intriguing person… He is small and delicate, just like a pear, but his determination is powerful like no other and his sense of responsibility is unmatchable…" He laughed "If he is taking so long to return, then something surely got his interest, and we all know he does not get interested in anything, unless it is extremely…"

"Juicy." Yubari finished with a giggle "If only Lime was a bit more like him…" He lamented sarcastically.

"Do not be so harsh with your sister." The man scolded gently "Her personality is a bit hard to deal with, but that is what makes her so unique: extremely sour in the outside, sweeter than honey in the inside."

" _Doesn't make her less annoying…"_ Yubari joked in his mind.

"What do we do now, father?" The young man asked adjusting his bangs.

"Now, my son, we wait for your siblings to return." The man answered confidently "I want to hear what they discovered. Especially your brother."

Yubari sighed a bit disappointed to know he wasn't getting any action soon.

"Be patient, my dear son." The man tried to comfort him "Hurry is an enemy of perfection and we need to execute every part of this plan perfectly. Besides, if there is something your mother taught me is that patience is the key for everything."

He smiled sadistically.

"Especially for REVENGE."

 **In front of Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 9:59 AM**

"Look! There they are!" Priam said pointing to the approaching group. Morgan followed his finger and smiled at the sight of her friends. Her smile quickly disappeared and gave place to a confused face, though, as she noticed the state of most of them.

Severa and Inigo were completely soaked, covered in mud and dead leaves, their clothes were torn and the male Mercenary had one shoe missing. Yen'fay was red as a tomato, his shirt was missing, his hair was a mess and he had weird marks on his neck. Walhart had a sick expression, his armor was covered with an unknown substance and he had flies following him. Emmeryn seemed fine, but was wearing a coat that was clearly not hers as it was a deep blue decorated with red lines. Gangrel was the worst of all; he had a black eye, his left cheek was puffed, he had marks of punches all over his face, his shirt was torn and he was stumbling pathetically like a hurt dog.

The only who were apparently 'normal' were Tick and Maggot, who were a few steps behind the others. Morgan was so surprised by the sight she didn't notice Flea was absent.

They slowly approached and positioned side by side in front of Morgan, who kept staring at them for a few more moments.

"But what happened…" She tried to ask, but was interrupted by Severa, Walhart, Gangrel and Yen'fay saying in unison:

"DON'T ASK."

"Uh… Ok…" Morgan scratched the back of her head awkwardly. Behind her, Priam also observed everyone mentally making the same question as the Proxy.

"So… What did you discover?" Morgan quickly tried to change the subject "Severa? Inigo?"

The female Mercenary rubbed some mud from her hair and proceeded to tell what they discovered.

"Inside Ever Woods, we found the clearing where Lucina and the merchant were found." She began "Observing the trees there, we found marks of what seems to be Falchion and Nikolai's sword, but we also discovered a curious detail: what are apparently the marks of Lucina's blade are extremely rough, like someone used a lot of force to make them. If Lucina is indeed who made these marks…"

"Them the cuts should be clear, as Falchion is sharp as hell when wielded by her." Morgan finished for Severa rubbing her chin thoughtful.

"And more…" Severa proceeded "We also found marks of a third blade."

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"A third blade?"

"More or less." Inigo went to explain "It's not a sword, an axe or something of that kind, but is very sharp and made a clean cut. It seems like a sword cut, though, and we only noticed it was different because we looked at it at a very close distance."

"We also found where Sumia let her pots of jam fall." Severa continued "It was in another, smaller clearing. There wasn't much to see there, but we found an interesting detail: in that clearing, there was a hole in the treetops made of broken branches. There was one branch that didn't break, though."

"And what it means?" Morgan asked.

"The branch by itself means nothing, but in the previous clearing there was another hole in the treetops made of broken branches, which we believe was made by the flying creature Gerome and Cynthia saw during the night of the festival, and one of these branches was much bigger than the one that was left in that other clearing."

Morgan's eyes widened.

"Wait! So, you're saying the hole in the smaller clearing and the one where Lucina was found were made by different things?"

"Seems to be the case." Severa simply declared.

"But then…" Morgan rubbed her chin "We would have two unidentified flying objects."

"Actually…" Yen'fay quickly intervened "We have three."

That revelation made everyone stare at the Swordmaster.

"What?" Morgan asked incredulous.

The man proceeded to tell what he and Walhart discovered.

"After questioning some people at the main square, we discovered that three flying creatures were seem that night. Well, in truth, there were four, but the first one everyone knows what was."

"And it would be…?" Morgan asked.

"An old wyvern that made residence in Ever Woods." Walhart said.

Hearing that made a chill run down Inigo's spine and Severa to snort grumpy.

"The second creature was something alike to a wyvern, but many people are convinced it was something different." Yen'fay continued from where he stopped "The third is unknown, as it was already too dark to see. It came from that direction after what was apparently an explosion." The man pointed to a hill far away.

"An explosion?" Morgan tilted her head.

"No one knows exactly if it was an explosion or not, but looked like one." Walhart decided to tell the rest "We only know about the last creature because a man we questioned heard about that. Per him, three people saw it flying over Ever Woods, hitting something and falling. Nothing was found, though."

"The people that saw it couldn't see what it was?"

"We don't know." The Conqueror admitted "We couldn't find them nor the people that looked for the creature in the forest."

The Proxy scratched her head again.

"Explosion…?" Emmeryn asked, which called Morgan's attention.

"Do you know something?" The girl prompted her to say.

"Not much." Gangrel answered for her "There's an inn in that direction near the place where said explosion happened. We found a woman there that claims to have seem it. Per her, it happened a bit after eight and not many people noticed it."

"How could they not notice an explosion?" Inigo asked.

"If you saw the mess that place is, you would know how." Gangrel grumbled "She told us where it was and we went to check the place. It was just like any other hill, except for a circle of burnt grass and what seemed to be a molten cauldron."

" _Molten cauldron?"_ Morgan wondered to herself.

"Aside from that, we didn't discover much." Gangrel finished "No one knows what caused the explosion, but some swear they saw something flying from that place."

So many weird facts in one single night… Trying to connect everything was being very hard.

"And you, Morgan?" Severa suddenly asked the Proxy "Did you and Priam find something?"

That was the question she feared to hear. How was she supposed to tell everyone what they discovered without causing a commotion?

"Ah… We did discover something, but…" Morgan turned around awkwardly while Priam avoided eye contact.

The duo's reaction made everyone raise an eyebrow.

"Morgan, what's wrong?" Inigo asked worried.

There was no other way. She had to tell them, no matter how hard it was. They surely wouldn't believe it… Well, at least most of them wouldn't believe it as Gangrel was very likely to not care or even find it funny, but that didn't make the job any easier.

With a sigh, Morgan turned around, gave them a depressed look and warned:

"You better get ready, because what I have to tell you stinks."

Everyone (except for Gangrel) exchanged worried stares. Morgan sighed again and told them what she and Priam discovered.

"We found the girl that was with Lucina in the festival. Her name is Sapphire and she lives in the village. In the night of the crime, Sapphire and her mother went to the festival and met Lucina there. Until that point, nothing seemed wrong, but then Sapphire's mother told us something that turned everything upside down."

"What?" Yen'fay asked.

"The time they arrived at the festival and the time Lucina claims to have arrived don't match. In her testimony, Lucina said she arrived at five past eight, but Sapphire and her mother left their home at seven fifty-two. Going from their house to the main square takes less than five minutes, so they arrived there before eight and that's the problem." Morgan took a deep breath "Lucina was already there, which means she was in the festival before the time she claims to be."

"What?!" Severa gasped.

"And worse: Sapphire saw Gerome arriving a bit after she left Lucina, which means she arrived BEFORE he and Cynthia, which also contradicts her testimony."

"WHAT?!" That time, Inigo and Yen'fay also gasped with Severa.

"And you better hold your pants, because there's more." Morgan scratched the back of her head and sighed "After we left their house, a stupid crow stole my phone and made us run after it to the main square. There, I discovered another little detail that made everything even worse: the clock tower has been showing the wrong time since before the crime."

No gasps this time, as no one understood what it meant.

"Do you remember what Lucina said?" Morgan asked noticing her friends confused stares "How did she know she arrived at five past eight?"

"Because she looked at… The…" The words faded from Inigo's mouth as a realization hit him.

"Clock tower." Morgan finished for him "Per one man that works in the tower, during the first day of the festival the clock was wrong three times. He gave me a paper where he wrote when it happened and which time the clock displayed." She took the paper from her pocket, unfolded it and read to everyone.

"Once during the afternoon, at two thirty-four, when the clock showed one thirty-two. Another time at seven twenty-five, when the clock showed seven fifty-five and, the worst of all, at seven fifty-four, when the clock displayed…" Morgan pocketed the paper and sighed "Five past eight."

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" Severa, Inigo, Yen'fay and Walhart gasped.

"Yes, exactly five past eight." Priam, who had been silent until then, confirmed.

"B-but…" Inigo was at a total loss of words "Gerome and Cynthia arrived when…"

"They THINK they arrived when the festival began." Morgan interrupted, guessing the boy's thoughts "But the festival began much earlier. The second time the clock was wrong, people thought it was nearly eight o'clock when it was more than thirty minutes earlier. The man that works in the clock tower fixed the clock and warned them, but they decided to start nonetheless. After the third time the clock was wrong, at seven fifty-five, he fixed the time again. Sapphire saw Gerome arriving after meeting Lucina."

"I don't understand." Yen'fay said confused "The sequence of events doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't make sense UNLESS we put things in order." Morgan clarified "And the order is: Lucina arrives at the festival at seven fifty-five, she looks at the clock tower and sees five past eight, Sapphire and her mother arrive and meet Lucina, the man fixes the clock tower, Sapphire leaves Lucina, Gerome and Cynthia arrive AND LOOK AT THE FIXED CLOCK SHOWING THE RIGHT TIME WHICH IS EIGHT O' CLOCK."

"But… That means…" Severa tried to find the words.

"Gerome and Cynthia think they arrived when the festival began because they looked at the clock tower and we already confirmed it because Cynthia said it to Morgan." Priam concluded the story "Which means they arrived AFTER Lucina and not BEFORE."

"Which also means…" Morgan felt a knot in her stomach, but resisted the bad feeling and proceeded "The mysterious figure they saw entering in Ever Woods wasn't a third person trying to frame Lucina, but probably Lucina herself."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" This time, even Gangrel and Emmeryn joined.

That was exactly the reaction Morgan expected. No one could believe it. She barely could believe it herself.

"Morgan, are you going to tell them the… Other part?" Priam asked unease.

"Other part?! Are you telling me there's more?!" Severa felt her forehead drenched in sweat.

"Oh, boy… Unfortunately, there's…" Morgan lamented "After connecting everything we discovered with what we heard in the court I have reasons to believe…"

She gulped. That was going to hit everyone like a bomb.

"To believe Lucina has lied in her testimony."

Just like she predicted, a mess began. Inigo and Severa protested, Yen'fay was left speechless, Walhart tried to find words but could only stutter something impossible to understand, Emmeryn was confused and Gangrel was unusually quiet. Tick and Maggot only shared worried looks.

"Morgan, you must be joking!" Severa said in a mix of incredulity and contained anger "How… I mean… Why?!"

"I didn't want to believe that as well, but there's evidence to sustain this theory." Morgan sadly said.

"What?! What is it?! Tell me!" The female Mercenary demanded.

"First: Lucina said she left the castle at seven fifty-three. If that's truth, then how did she arrive in the festival at seven fifty-four? It takes at least six minutes from the castle to the village walking. Even flying with a Pegasus would take three minutes at a minimum." Morgan stated, which made Severa stop to think "Second, and it's something that I should have realized before: how did she know it was seven fifty-three?"

"Maybe she looked at a clock before leaving?" Inigo asked.

"The only clocks in the castle are in the kitchen, in the meal room and in my father's office. She couldn't check the one in father's office because the door is always locked and the only people who have the key are father himself, me and mother." The Proxy began stating the facts "The meal room and the kitchen are both in the OTHER SIDE of the castle. If she looked at them and saw seven fifty-three, she would need at least two minutes or more to cross the whole castle and leave, which means she would have arrived in the festival AFTER seven fifty-four."

"And… And if she didn't know the time and just guessed?" Severa seemed shaken.

"If it was just a guess, why did she say specifically seven fifty-THREE?" Morgan asked "When people are trying to guess, they usually say things like seven fifty, seven forty-five… Why give a weird number like fifty-three?"

"To sound confident." Gangrel's suddenly spoke "No one would give such a specific time if not confident enough. If the princess is indeed lying and trying to hide something, then saying a time so specific like seven fifty-three would make most people believe she's telling the TRUTH, when she's just trying to hide a LIE."

"Exactly." Morgan agreed before raising an eyebrow "Did I just agree with Gangrel? It's going to rain knives…"

"Shut up, you little pest!" The red-haired man scowled.

"But why would she do that?" Inigo asked incredulous "I mean… Lying in a testimony? That's a crime! What could she possibly want to hide so badly she had to lie in court?"

"I don't know." Morgan simply announced "But one thing I know: if she's indeed lying, I have to discover why and what she's hiding, otherwise the facts won't connect and we won't get anywhere."

She sighed a bit worried.

"Not only that, I have to convince her to tell the truth as well." Morgan added "If she does, then it'll be considered a confession and the crime of lying in the testimony will be forgiven, but if she doesn't…" The young Proxy turned around again "Then Seiji will have a very powerful weapon to use against her."

"The prickly boy?" Inigo raised an eyebrow "You mean if Lucina is lying and if he discovers, right?"

"If Lucina is lying, yes…" She turned to face the male Mercenary with a serious face "But not if Seiji discovers. That isn't a question of IF, it's a question of WHEN. I know Seiji very well; he has the resources and the skills for it. If Lucina is lying, then he'll discover it sooner or later." She furrowed her brow "It doesn't help that he was suspicious of her. I'm sure the first thing he's going to do, if he hasn't already done it, is to check the veracity of Lucina's testimony."

No one said anything else for many moments. The silence was unsettling and the already heavy weight on Morgan's shoulders became greater. What should she do? Where should she begin? And above everything else, how on hell was she supposed to ask Lucina if she lied in her testimony?

What a day to forget her father's aspirins…

"What do we do now, Morgan?" Inigo asked, still shaken at all the sudden revelations.

"You, nothing." The girl simply stated "You did everything you could for me. The rest is my responsibility. You know… Analyze the data, put the pieces together, talk with my client… That kind of thing." Her worried face was replaced with a smile "I have to admit you were much better than I anticipated. Your efforts won't go unnoticed." She gave them a thumb up "I'll make sure to put your names in the 'Shepherd of the Month', although I'll have to rename it to 'Shepherds of the Month'. Oh! And come to father's office tomorrow at three to get your paychecks."

Severa cleared her throat.

"And your bonuses, of course."

The female Mercenary rubbed her hands anxiously, wondering what she should do first with the incoming money.

" _All her worry for Lucina disappeared in an instant…"_ Inigo thought a bit worried to himself.

"So, can I finally go back home?" Gangrel asked moody.

"Yes, you can. You all can. Good job everyone! I'm very proud of you. Even of you Gangrel." She gave the man a sincere smile before pointing to a hill behind him "Now, go home. Shoo."

Usually, Gangrel wouldn't accept to be treated like that, but he was so tired of that day he only wanted to go back home, take a bath and get on bed. Actually, that was what everyone wanted after all the misadventures they were put into.

One by one, they turned around and slowly left to their own homes or wherever they wanted to be, feeling so tired they even forgot to bid Morgan good-bye. One of them, though, had other plans.

"Wait…" Emmeryn rushed to Gangrel's side and held his arm "You are… Hurt… Let me… Help you…"

The man looked surprised at the former Exalt's bold move. He wanted to argue, but the pain he was feeling and her lovely face made him completely unable to say anything, so he just sighed and let her take him wherever she wanted.

Morgan kept an eye on everyone as they left. She had a confident smile and a calm posture, but, deep inside, she was very nervous. Not only because of everything she had discovered and what she had to do, but also because of the silent fear of someone noticing she hadn't asked what Maggot and Tick discovered.

For pure luck or maybe because Naga was helping her, everyone was too tired to notice that and, as soon as they disappeared from her line of sight, she put on a serious expression and faced the two men left.

"Ok, now to your reports." In that moment, Morgan noticed Flea's absence "By the way, where's Flea?"

"Worry not, madam, as it'll be explained as well." Maggot reassured.

"Right. So, what did you two discover?"

Maggot proceeded to tell:

"We went to the place near Ever Woods where people claim to have seen the wolf and found some very intriguing paw marks there. The format of the paws match with a rabbit or a small rodent, but their size is incompatible."

"The size is incompatible?" Morgan tilted her head.

"They're the size of a wolf paw." Tick explained "However, the distance between the marks is too big. The creature would have to be the size of a bear or an adult man at least."

"So… The creature has the paws of a rodent of the size of a wolf, but is big as a bear?" Morgan asked.

"Yep." Tick confirmed, which made the Proxy very confused "There's also a little issue with the trail it left. The paw marks go to Ever Woods and come from the road nearby, but disappear there. The only marks we found on the road were of people, chariots and some domestic animals like cows or sheeps."

"That's so weird…" The girl rubbed her chin trying to guess what kind of creature it could be when a thought came to her mind.

"Oh, no! Yen'fay and Walhart forgot to tell me about the wolf rumors and I to ask them!"

"Don't worry, boss. They told us everything they discovered about that before we came here." Tick announced.

"What they discovered doesn't make this less confusing though." Maggot added "After questioning some people, they discovered the animal seen in the night of the crime caused some controversy between the villagers as well. Some claim it was a wolf, but some say it was a bear. Some even said it was a completely unknown creature."

"And more: some claim the second unidentified flying creature was chasing that animal." Tick quickly added.

"Say whaaaaaaat?" Morgan was left even more confused than before.

"Aside from these marks, we also found some fur." Maggot proceeded "It's of a kind we never saw before, but may belong to that animal. It was already sent to the HQ to be examined."

"Excellent. And when will we have the results?" Morgan asked.

Tick and Maggot exchanged worried looks.

"About that…" The older man began insecure "We had a little problem in the HQ that also explains Flea's absence."

"Oh, no… What now?" Morgan asked, a bit unsure if she wanted to know the answer or not.

 **Meanwhile, at the Ylissean Secret Service headquarter…**

"No! The other hammer! The one with the round edge!" Flea complained to the assistant.

"Which one?" The young boy asked looking everywhere for the object.

"The one on the table near the pens! It's the only one there!"

"Oh! Found it!" The assistant got the hammer and handed to Flea, who used it to put a screw in place.

It had been more than two hours since he began fixing the machine they used to make DNA tests and he still had a lot to do. Broken buttons, screws out of place, memory cards split in half… In few words, it was a giant mess.

"I can't believe this! How could this happen?" Flea grumbled irritated while trying to connect two cut cables.

"Some guys in the party yesterday drank a bit too much." The assistant told embarrassed.

"Drunk or not, it's still stupid!" Flea grabbed a screwdriver to fix another screw out of place "Which kind of idiot would throw a DNA testing machine through the window?! We're in the third floor!"

The assistant avoided eye contact and pretended to know nothing about that.

 **Back to Morgan…**

"What?! They threw it out the window?! What's wrong with those guys?! That thing was super expensive!"

Maggot and Tick took a few steps back. The last time they saw Morgan angry was when one of the castle's towers exploded in a marvelous shower of electricity and dark magic.

"Alright, alright…" The girl took a deep breath and tried to calm down "How much time to fix it?"

"Shorty is working nonstop on the machine and he's the best at that, so he'll finish it soon." Tick said confidently before scratching the back of his head awkwardly "That is… When the parts arrive."

"Parts? Which parts?" Morgan inquired.

"Some essential parts of the machine broke and need to be replaced." Maggot explained "The problem is that most of them have to be imported from the Outrealms, since the machine was also bought there."

Just hearing the word 'imported' made a chill run down Morgan's spine. The process of importation and exportation in Ylisse was filled with mountains of bureaucracy, which made anything take hours or even days to enter or leave the country. It was even worse if the product was from the Outrealms, as it needed to be checked by many authorities before being authorized in the Ylissean territory. That long process was the result of a flawed law that Robin and Maribelle didn't have the time to change and now was on the bottom of their priorities lists.

"Dear gods… How much time for them to arrive?" Morgan forced herself to ask.

"They'll probably arrive at…" Maggot flinched for a moment, fearing the girl's reaction "Five in the afternoon."

"FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON?! BUT THAT'S WHEN THE TRIAL WILL BEGIN!" Morgan yelled angrily, which made the two men take a few more steps back "Can't you speed up the process?"

"We did it, madam." Maggot sadly answered "We hurried it as much as possible."

"Oh, by the love of…" Morgan grabbed her hair and pulled it "Ok… Calm down, Morgan. Don't worry." She muttered to herself "It's not the end of the world. Keep calm and think about bear meat. Bear ham… Bear meatballs… Roasted bear… Oh, yeah…"

As her thoughts were filled with the delicious delicacy, Morgan's mouth filled with drool and she eventually calmed down.

"Alright." She quickly recovered her composure and cleaned some saliva from her chin "That's sad and horrible, but not a disaster. I can still work around that. What about the other things I asked you?"

"I went to the Ylissean Court and searched for anything that could explain Mr. Chrom's weird behavior." Maggot was the first to report "At first, I couldn't find anything unusual or relevant UNTIL I checked the history of every single person in the audience."

The young Proxy looked confused at the man.

"I discovered something interesting." Maggot continued "Everyone present in the court room has some connection to Grandmaster Robin."

"Excuse me?" Morgan was still unable to understand.

"On one side, we have the Shepherds, who are his friends and love him." Maggot proceeded to explain "On the other side, we have civilians that live in Ylisse, a country Grandmaster Robin helped to save and, as such, see him as a hero. The judge has a deep respect for your father not only for his work as tactician, but for all the updates he made in the flawed Ylissean Law Code. Mr. Lee Kanto, the prosecutor originally chosen for the trial, is his friend and admires his job. Even you friend Seiji thinks highly of him."

"Really? Well, that's something I could use to my advantage…" Morgan smiled mischievously as her mind quickly began making lots of schemes to use against him, but they died in the same speed as Maggot's words were processed in her mind.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second… If my memory doesn't fail me, there's a law father and Maribelle didn't change that allows the Exalt to know who will take part of a trial BEFORE anyone else, which means…"

She widened her eyes in incredulity and indignation.

"That son of a Grima wanted father to be Lucina's attorney because his opinion would affect the audience and all the parts involved, thus granting her an advantage against the prosecution! What a little dirty cheater!"

"I can't confirm if it's the case, but seems to be." Maggot commented.

Now Morgan could understand why Chrom wanted Robin to be Lucina's attorney so much despite Maribelle being more fit for the role. It wasn't about friendship, trust or anything like that, it was just a selfish scheme to make things easier.

In the end, she and Brady weren't overthinking the situation, there was indeed something fishy happening.

"Ok! Ok! Now that's solved I don't want to think about it anymore! It's getting on my nerves!" The girl shook her head and quickly changed the subject "What about you, Tick? Did you discover something?"

"Well, I did like you ordered, boss." Tick stated putting his hands in the pockets "I followed Taguel boy and Manakete girl, watching every move they made."

"And…" Morgan was becoming a bit nervous.

"Like you friend said, the boy is constantly looking back and the girl is clearly in a bad mood. However, I think it may be more personal than related to the case."

"What do you mean?"

"I noticed they're avoiding each other." Tick told "Whenever they're about to meet or even cross paths, one of them would turn around or take another route. The boy seems to become very nervous whenever she's around and the girl gave him some glares that scared even me."

" _That's weird…"_ Morgan thought _"They usually get along well. Nah also has a little crush on Yarne, which makes it even weirder."_

"Did you discover what caused that?" The girl asked.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything." Tick answered "Until the night of the crime, they seemed to be acting normally."

" _Until the night of the crime?"_ Morgan mused _"So, I can't discard the possibility yet…"_

"And what were they doing in that night?"

Tick raised his shoulders.

"No one knows. I asked some guards in the castle, but they don't even have any idea of where they were."

Another question without answer. The more she investigated, the more complicated the case became. No matter from what angle Morgan looked at the evidence or the events, there would always be some question mark and whenever she discovered something another mystery would appear.

Talking about questions and mysteries, Maggot and Tick had been tempted to ask Morgan why she choose Emmeryn, Gangrel, Yen'fay, Walhart, Priam, Severa and Inigo for the investigation since her call in the previous day. Not that the two thought they weren't skilled enough or lacked ability, but they wondered why she would choose people who stayed most of their time away from the Shepherds headquarter and had little participation in the Halidom's routine. Inigo and Severa were exceptions, although they also wondered why she choose only them instead of bringing more of her friends.

That wasn't the best time to make that question, though, so they decided to leave that for later.

"What do we do now, madam?" Maggot asked Morgan, who scratched her head unsure. She barely knew what SHE had to do anymore, so how was she supposed to tell them what to do?

"I'm not sure." The girl admitted "There're lots of things to uncover and without the DNA results we can't state much more than we already know. So, for now…" She turned to them with a serious face "I think the best we can do is work with what we have. I want you to take a second look at everything they told us. Check what're these marks of a third blade Severa and Inigo related and see what's that molten cauldron Gangrel talked about in the place where the explosion happened. I don't know if it'll help me or not, but in my current condition I can't waste anything. Use everything you have in the Secret Service and spare no resources. If you discover something else, you have my number."

"Yes, madam."

"Understood, boss!"

With that, the two men disappeared in a cloud of purple mist, leaving Morgan alone with her thoughts.

" _Ok… What am I going to do now?"_ She wondered.

Lost in her thoughts, Morgan didn't notice the crow who had been watching the whole scene leaving to somewhere far away.

 **Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 10:54 AM**

Since the investigation was over and she didn't have much to do except wait for some new information from Maggot and Tick, Morgan decided to go back to her father's office and prepare a strategy for the trial later that day. If there was a good place to think it surely was her father's office.

It was always so calm and the decoration Robin used was very relaxing. Being one of the few rooms that had a window to the garden was also a positive point.

Of course, before she resumed her job as Lucina's attorney, Morgan deserved a reward. She had been working very hard to save the princess's skin and working for the royal family was very stressing (if you don't believe me, then ask Robin or Frederick).

" _I'm sure father won't mind if I take my bonus a bit earlier."_ Morgan thought with a mischievous smile _"After all, I need some extra money to pay for the court room roof AND my Nintendo Switch."_

The simple thought of putting her hands on the so desired object made all the worries and stress in her mind dissipate like they never existed. Good thing she knew where Robin kept the money for the bonuses of everyone in the army and had the keys for the heavily locked shelf.

When she was just a few more steps from her father's office, already taking the keys out of her pocket, Morgan heard a desperate voice calling for her.

"MORGAN! MORGAN!"

She turned around and saw Yarne running down the hall at full speed, coming straight at her.

"Yarne?" Morgan tilted her head confused.

The Taguel boy stopped a few centimeters from her, panting like he had run a marathon and soaked in sweat.

"Morgan! Something… Horrible… Happened!" The boy said with difficulty "It was… In…"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Calm down!" Morgan put a hand on the boy's back and patted it "Relax. Breath, ok? Don't die or your species will be doomed to extinction."

The mention of 'extinction' made Yarne reconsider speaking in his state and stop to recover his breath.

"Now, now… That's right." Morgan took her hand from his back to pat his head "Good bunny! Good!"

"DON'T TREAT ME LIKE A PET!" Yarne complained, his cheeks getting slightly red.

"Hey! I told you to calm down!"

Yarne sighed. Arguing with Morgan about that subject would be useless, so he decided to take a last deep breath and say what he wanted.

"Morgan, I've been looking for you! Something horrible happened! Lucina's room was invaded!"

Morgan's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"Invaded?! When?" She asked worried.

"We don't know." Yarne shook his head negatively "But it was probably not long ago. Some guards said they passed in front of her room around nine and everything seemed normal, but when Lucina went there a few minutes ago, she found the door open and her stuff scattered everywhere."

"Oh, boy… Why now?" Morgan lamented "I better check it myself!"

Without losing any more second, the Proxy went running to the princess's room see the damage done.

"I'll be right behind you!" Yarne announced preparing to run after Morgan, but his legs threatened to stop working "Or maybe not so right behind you…"

Yarne wasn't out of shape, but no one would be feeling very well after running nonstop all over a castle full of stairs for four minutes looking for someone who wasn't even there until a few moments ago.

 **Lucina's room, Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 11:08 AM**

When Yarne said that someone invaded Lucina's room, Morgan expected to find a mess. What she didn't expect was such a big mess.

Whoever did it wasn't worried about being discreet; books were scattered all over the floor, the pillows and blanket were on the desk, all shelves were open, there was a pencil or pen lost in every corner, clothes were taken from the wardrobe and thrown carelessly over the bed, all the princess's shoes laid near the door and even the curtains were taken out of place.

Lucina inspected her room to see if anything was stolen while Morgan, Cynthia, Chrom, Sumia and Frederick waited outside. Yarne arrived a few minutes after Morgan with a tired expression and sweat all over his face.

After what felt like hours, Lucina finished checking her room and left. Everyone gathered around her to hear what she had to say.

"Despite the mess, nothing was taken." That surprised all present "Everything's still there. My books, my clothes, my spare swords… Even the money I forgot over the desk."

"They were looking for something specific and didn't find it." Frederick announced with a thoughtful tone.

"Which means it wasn't a regular thief." Morgan said, having thought the same as Frederick "Although that was a bit obvious since the beginning."

"What do you mean?" Sumia asked.

"Well, look at this mess." Morgan pointed inside the room "A professional thief would never do that. Discretion is everything for a thief and any idiot can see someone entered there. Besides, the door was forced open. "Morgan showed the broken door lock "The professionals have instruments to do it without the need of force."

"So, our little 'friend' is someone inexperienced." Chrom said sourly.

"But what could they be looking in Lucina's room?" Cynthia asked to Morgan, who answered raising her shoulders.

Why someone would invade her room? To say the truth, there were many possibilities. Lucina was the princess of Ylisse, an important member of the royal family and the one being accused after all, so many bad intentioned individuals could be targeting her for the most varied reasons. Of course, no one except the Shepherds knew Lucina was Chrom's daughter as the whole thing about time traveling was better kept hidden from the people.

Unfortunately, she and Cynthia were the only ones who had to keep their true relationships with their parents hidden, as the Lucina of that time was already born and everyone knew Chrom and Sumia had married not long ago, so having three daughters, two of them practically adults, was impossible. The others had more luck in that department, as their parents' personal relationships weren't known to many people in Ylisse, so they having children over their fifteen or sixteen years didn't sound as strange.

"Morgan…" Chrom was about to ask something, but the girl interrupted.

"I know what you want to ask." The girl took her phone, dialed a number and put it near her left ear "Hey! Tick! It's Morgan. Can you do me a favor?" She moved a bit away from the group.

"Don't worry, Lucy." Sumia rubbed her daughter's shoulder "Morgan will take care of everything."

"Alright. Thanks a lot." Morgan returned while finishing the call "They'll come check the room in a few minutes."

"Well, since everything is solved, I think it would be better if I clean that mess." Lucina was about to enter her room and begin organizing her stuff when Morgan held her hand.

"Lucy, the better thing to do now is to keep the room like it is until they come to see it." Morgan warned "If you move anything, we may lose some important evidence. Besides…" She scratched the back of her head insecure, which made Lucina raise an eyebrow.

"There is… Something I need to speak with you." Morgan said.

The girl's unusual nervousness confused Lucina, but she decided to ignore it.

"Very well. What is it?"

"We have to speak alone." Morgan stated firmly, which made everyone turn their gazes at her.

"Excuse me?" Chrom asked.

"I'm sorry, but this is a private subject." The white-haired girl had an emotionless expression "It's something I can discuss exclusively with my client and no one else."

Although Morgan was being unnaturally serious, the group decided to comply and left the two girls alone. Cynthia looked back a few times before leaving, having a bad feeling about whatever was going to happen.

When there was no one aside from them in the hall, Lucina turned to Morgan and asked:

"Now that everyone is gone, can you tell me what you want to discuss?"

Morgan furrowed her brow and sighed. That wasn't going to be easy, but if she wanted to have any chance to win the trial then she had to uncover the truth.

"Lucy, did you forget to mention anything in your testimony? I mean, there's always a chance you overlooked something…" Morgan decided to begin slowly.

"If I forgot something?" Lucina seemed confused by her question "No. Why do you ask?"

Morgan rubbed her cheek insecure. How was she supposed to continue?

"And… Are you sure you didn't make any mistake? Like… Said something wrong?"

"What? Of course I didn't." Lucina gave Morgan a weird look.

"And…" She looked for words to use "Are you really sure about that?"

"Yes, I am." The princess said annoyed.

"Well, in that case…"

"Morgan, where are you trying to get?" Lucina asked, a bit irritated at the Proxy's cryptic behavior.

Morgan facepalmed. It was ridiculous and would get her nowhere. There was no other way than to be direct.

"Ok! I'll stop speaking in circles and go straight to the point!" Morgan gave the princess a very serious look "Lucina, did you tell only the truth in your testimony? Because I have reasons to believe you didn't!"

Lucina was taken aback by Morgan's sudden accusation.

"What are you talking about?! I told only the truth! Which reason I would have to lie?!" The princess said defensively.

"That's exactly what I've been asking myself for a while…" Morgan deadpanned.

"I can't believe you're accusing me of lying!" Lucina exclaimed indignant "That's ridiculous! I told the truth and nothing except the truth!"

"That's not what the facts say."

"And which facts do you have that say I'm lying, huh?" Lucina folded her arms and glared at Morgan.

"Do you remember the girl that invited you to the festival?"

"Sapphire? Yes, but what…"

"Well, she and her mother told me something very interesting." Morgan put her hands on the hip "They left their house to meet you at seven fifty-two."

"What is so special about that?" The princess asked challenging.

"If I remember correctly, you left the castle at seven fifty-three, right?"

"Yes. And?"

"It takes less than five minutes from their house to the main square."

"And?"

"They met you when they arrived, right?"

"Yes, they did." Lucina rolled her eyes "Sincerely, what are you trying to say?"

"Guess."

Lucina seemed annoyed at the whole situation Morgan put her into and sighed in irritation. However, as the words the Proxy said slowly registered in the princess's mind she understood what Morgan meant.

And became absurdly nervous about that.

"Yes, that's exactly the problem." Morgan glared at the panicking Lucina "If they met you when they arrived, then you didn't arrive at five past eight. You arrived BEFORE that!"

"That's impossible!" The princess quickly tried to counter "I saw in the clock tower…"

"Well, I have news for you: the clock tower is broken and you saw the wrong time." Morgan interrupted Lucina to make that revelation, which made the princess flinch "One man that works in the clock gave me a paper showing when the clock was wrong and which time it displayed." She took the small paper from her pocket and unfolded it "Coincidentally, when it was five past eight in the clock tower, it was actually SEVEN FIFTY-FOUR."

Lucina gasped incredulous.

"There's no way it's possible!" Lucina tried to sound confident, but her voice revealed nervousness "I know I left the castle at seven fifty-three! I couldn't arrive in the village at that time!"

"Oh, did I tell you that Cynthia and Gerome didn't arrive when the festival began?" Morgan ignored Lucina's protests "They thought that because they saw eight o'clock in the clock tower, but thanks to the little problem it's having the festival began before than planned. And guess what? Sapphire saw them arriving AFTER meeting you, and at that time the clock was fixed!"

"WHAT?!" Lucina's jaw dropped.

"Which means they arrived at eight o' clock like they said, but you DIDN'T ARRIVE AT THE TIME YOU SAID, simply because you arrived BEFORE THAT!" Morgan accused "Which also means you didn't leave the castle at seven fifty-three, but sometime BEFORE!"

Lucina's face was covered in sweat.

"So, I'll ask you again: did you tell only the truth in your testimony?"

"YES, I DID!" Lucina yelled defensively.

"Yelling isn't going to help you. Besides, if you did, then why all these facts contradict you?" Morgan gave her an accusing glare.

"I don't know! I have no idea, but I swear I'm not lying!"

Morgan facepalmed. It was very clear she was lying, but the princess insisted in claiming she said only the truth.

"Morgan, I admit you have good reasons to think I lied…" Lucina began nervous "But I swear! I told only the truth! I have nothing to hide!"

"Really?" Morgan asked dubious.

"Yes!"

"So, answer me another thing…" Morgan glared at Lucina "How did you know it was seven fifty-three when you left the castle? The only clocks here are in my father's office, the kitchen and the meal room and I know you couldn't look at them and arrive at seven fifty-four. Not only because you would need at least six minutes to reach the village, but if you looked at the clock in the kitchen or the meal room you would need more two minutes to cross the whole castle and father's office is always locked."

Silence. Lucina didn't answer the question.

"I…" She began insecure "I guessed."

"You guessed?" Morgan nearly laughed "You guessed the time was seven FIFTY-THREE? Who would try to guess giving such a specific time?"

"I don't know! I just thought it was the right time!"

If she wasn't her client, Morgan would have slapped Lucina across her face in that exact moment. Any idiot could see the princess was lying and her excuses were becoming worse every time she tried to explain herself.

"Lucina, I want to help you and I'm sure you didn't kill the merchant…" Morgan tried to sound as calm as possible (which wasn't being very easy) "But to do that I need the truth or the facts won't connect and if the facts don't connect, then my hands are tied!" That statement made the princess turn her gaze away from Morgan "If you are hiding something, I need to know why and what. So, I'll ask you one more time…"

She took a few steps closer to Lucina and asked with a serious tone:

"Did you tell only the truth?"

…

"Yes, I did." Lucina answered weakly, holding her arm and avoiding eye contact.

"Look at me in the eyes and repeat that." Morgan said challenging.

Lucina hesitated for a moment, but let go of her arm and stared confidently in Morgan's eyes and declared:

"Yes. I told only the truth."

" _Liar."_ The Proxy accused in her head, resisting the will of outright saying it.

"Ok, Lucina… I trust you." Morgan sighed "Sorry for saying all those horrible things, but for a moment I really thought you were hiding something."

That was a lie, but Lucina who began it, so Morgan had the right to be a bit "insincere" as well.

"It's okay…" The princess said, although her heated glare said another thing "Is that all?"

"Yes, yes… That's all." The white-haired girl shook a hand dismissively "You can go now. Sorry for taking your time."

Without saying a single more word, the princess turned around and left, clearly irritated at the recent events leaving an equally nervous Grandmaster representative. All the stress made Morgan's stomach turn into a knot and she felt a strong headache coming.

" _By the gods… Why me? Why now? What did I do to deserve this?"_ She lamented mentally, turning around and leaving to the nearest bathroom _"I need a very long and relaxing bath…"_

 **Meanwhile, somewhere far away…**

Yubari and Cherry never had any problem to wait. It wasn't something they liked very much, but they learned how to be patient. Their younger sister, on other hand…

"I'm bored…" Complained for the seventh time in the last five minutes a girl with short deep black hair wearing a dark purple shirt and black pants. Her features were very robust for a girl of her age, but she was also a bit on the cute side. Her eyes were of a venomous yellow and there was a scar on her left cheek that seemed to be made by a sword's blade. She had her arms crossed and was sitting like a delinquent on the black couch.

"If you're so bored, why don't you find something to distract yourself like Pear did?" Yubari asked mockingly, referring to the boy sitting at the girl's side.

He was the shortest of the four, with short messed black hair and innocent features. His eyes were big and shone a radiant yellow. He wore what seemed to be a Dark Mage's coat that was clearly too big for him as the sleeves hid his hands. In the moment, he was distracted eating some crystallized fruits his father left on his table.

"Why don't you take care of your own nose, Yubari?" The girl shot back irritated.

"And why don't you learn some manners, Lime?" The man retorted with a giggle.

"I have no reason to be gentle with you." Lime grumbled. She then looked at the pot of crystallized fruits Pear was holding, pointed at it and said:

"I want that."

Without making a sound, Pear handed the pot to Lime, who grabbed it nonchalant, took a handful of fruits, put everything in her mouth and delivered the pot. The boy took it and resumed what he was doing.

"See? Pear answered your request even though you were extremely rude." Yubari taunted "He's the very definition of a gentleman! You could learn a trick or two with him. Maybe it would help you get a boyfriend." He giggled.

"I don't want a boyfriend!" Lime shouted, her face reddening in a mix of embarrassment and anger "And spare me of your favoritism!"

"Favoritism?" Yubari pretended to be hurt "But you're the one who said Pear was your favorite. Do you remember that?"

"I do." Pear suddenly said after swallowing what he had in his mouth.

"S-shut up, you little plague!" Lime slapped the back of her younger brother's head, whose only reaction was to rub the place he was attacked a bit and resume what he was doing.

"Ugh… Sometimes, your lack of reaction creeps me out…" The girl moved a bit away from him.

"But I'm still your favorite, right?" Pear asked innocently, which made his sister sigh annoyed.

"Aww… You two are so cute together! No wonder you get along so well!" Cherry teased, making Lime blush again. Pear kept his stoic expression, completely unaffected by his sister's comment.

"No reaction again?" The older girl seemed a bit disappointed "For someone so small, you have a very hard shell. But I'll find a way to reach your little heart one day, little brother…"

"Good luck with that." Yubari mocked "Neither father found a way to break that carapace around him."

"But I love father." Pear declared a bit worried that his lack of emotion gave the wrong impression.

"We know it, I'm just saying you aren't as expressive or easy to impress as your sister, for example." Lime was about to argue again, but decided to ignore her brother.

"Oh…" Knowing that no damage was done, Pear calmly returned to his crystallized fruits.

This time, even Yubari felt a bit uncomfortable at his younger brother's lack of reaction.

"The chat is very nice and all, but what are we waiting for?" Lime asked, her patience nearing its limit.

Usually, Yubari, as the oldest of them, would be informed of what their father planned to do or where he was going. If not him, then Cherry would know. This time, though, he left without telling anything to anyone, leaving them in the dark.

"To say the truth, I don't know." The man admitted "Father left home without telling me what he was going to do."

"He didn't tell me either." Cherry added "The only thing he said is that we should wait for him to return."

Lime sighed. She didn't like that, but if her beloved father ordered them to wait, then she would obey.

"If I had to guess…" Yubari mused "I would say it may be something related to what Pear said. After discovering that the investigation the Proxy conducted ended before planned, he said something about 'using that free time to his favor' and left."

"What do you think he meant with that?" Cherry asked rubbing her chin. Yubari answered raising his shoulders.

The three older siblings asked themselves what their father could be possibly planning, while the youngest continued to eat his crystallized fruits completely unconcerned. Whatever it was, Pear was sure he had nothing to worry about.

 **East bathroom, Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 11:46 AM**

"I know she's lying! That's clear as water, but Lucina insists she's telling the truth! I have to find a way to make her confess!" Morgan said using one hand to hold the phone and the other to cover herself with the towel "What should I do, mother?"

…

" _Morgan, why are you asking me that?"_ Aversa asked with her usual nonchalant tone.

"Because I don't know what…"

" _Let me rephrase it."_ The Dark Flyer interrupted _"Why are you asking that to ME?"_

"Oh… Well, everything I know about persuasion I learned with you." Morgan finished covering herself "So, I thought you would know how I can make Lucina speak."

" _My methods work better on men."_ Aversa stated _"Not that they don't work on some women."_ She added playfully.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"_ Robin could be heard yelling in the background _"WHAT A DAY TO TRY A LONG SWORD!"_

" _I told you to choose something you're used to."_ Aversa commented.

" _I didn't know that thing was so hard! GAH! WHY IS IT FOLLOWING ONLY ME?! THERE ARE OTHER TWO GUYS HERE!"_ Morgan heard her father running away, followed by what seemed to be two big and strong legs stomping on sand.

" _The other guys were knocked out."_ Her mother revealed.

" _What?! Already?! It's the third time we team up with newbies this week!"_ Robin complained still running from whatever was chasing him.

" _Back to the subject, do you really need to know what the princess is hiding?"_ Aversa resumed the conversation.

"What she was doing may not be very important." Morgan took another towel to dry her hair "But I need to know WHEN she left the castle. Only then I can connect the facts and create a single story. Sure, knowing what she was doing and why she decided to hide it would help a lot, especially to convince the judge to forgive her for lying in her testimony, but the most important now is the time. Without that, the other evidence won't make sense."

" _Even after hearing all that, she insisted on lying?"_ Aversa asked.

"Yes." Morgan half lamented, half cursed "I don't know why she's being so stubborn."

" _Take this!"_ Robin's yell was followed by the sound of a blade hitting something, a pained roar and what sounded like a club hitting someone _"OUCH! Damn these wyverns and their tail attacks! OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! OK, NOW YOU'RE OVEREDOING IT!"_

" _Think a bit, Morgan."_ Aversa ignored her husband's cries of pain _"Why would the princess be so determined to hide something to the point of lying in court?"_

"Well… Considering everything I know about Lucina it may be because she believes 'it's for the greater good and to keep order' like when she lied about being Marth." The girl said rolling her eyes.

" _Or…?"_

That confused Morgan. What could her mother mean with 'or'? By her tone, Aversa knew the answer, but wasn't willing to give it so easily.

" _By the love of the gods! Aversa, can we abandon this quest and pick another?!"_ Robin yelled between roars and what sounded like a blade clashing against something very hard.

" _No!"_ The Dark Flyer yelled back.

" _But why do you want this thing weapons?!"_ The Grandmaster complained _"They all have negative affinity!"_

" _I don't want the weapons, I want the armor! Besides, we spent the last three hours walking in this stupid desert looking for that thing! I'm not going anywhere until it's dead!"_ Aversa argued.

Although trains or machines of that kind didn't exist where her parents were, Morgan was sure she heard something akin to pressurized steam.

" _But how am I supposed to kill it?!"_ Robin was clearly desperate _"That thing is practically a demon and it's massacring me!"_

" _Why do you think they named it Massacre Demon? Because it's cute?"_ Aversa replied sarcastically.

" _Your sarcasm stings more than a swarm of bees…"_ Robin grumbled before another roar was heard _"GAH! WHEN DID IT GET SO CLOSE?!"_

The young Proxy became tempted to ask what was happening and why her father sounded so troubled, but something in the back of her head told her to leave that for later.

" _Back to the subject and with some luck this time without interruptions…"_ Aversa sounded extremely calm, despite Robin screaming nonstop in the background _"The princess may not be convinced or arrogant like most aristocrats or high society people, but she's still a member of the royal family, which means she has a reputation to watch over. In my sincerest opinion, I think the only reason she would lie in court is because…"_

"It could seriously damage her image." Morgan finished for her mother, finally understanding what she meant."

" _Or maybe she's just embarrassed to admit whatever she did."_ The woman giggled.

" _How can this thing produce steam?! What's the logic of that?!"_ Morgan heard her father yelling.

"Well, embarrassing or not, she has to tell me!" The girl announced irritated "How am I supposed to help her if she doesn't help me?"

" _Simple."_ Aversa stated monotonously _"Don't help her. Let the princess do whatever she wants, however she wants, as many times she wants."_ She laughed lowly _"Lucina is an adult. It's her right to do whatever comes to her mind and her obligation to_ _ **stand the consequences."**_

As cold as it sounded, Aversa's statement had some hidden meaning. Her words were chosen very carefully and she made sure the last part would stand out. Morgan knew it was of her mother's nature to be a bit cryptic sometimes, but couldn't guess what she meant with that.

" _AVERSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_ Robin called desperately, making the woman sigh.

" _I have to go. Your father got cornered AGAIN."_ Aversa said a bit annoyed.

"Ok. If something new happens I'll give you a call. Bye-bye!" Morgan then finished the call.

Talking with her parents was something she always enjoyed doing, but this time the conversation didn't help much. She didn't understand what her mother meant and still had no idea on how she would make Lucina admit the truth.

Feeling the headache coming back, Morgan decided to put all those thoughts aside before she had to take even more aspirins than she already took that day and left the foggy bathroom, heading to her father's office.

Coincidentally, in that same moment, Owain was nearby, walking down the hall Morgan was about to enter while doing his theatrics.

"My sword hand…" He exclaimed, holding his hand like he felt a lot of pain "It hungers for battle! I can't control it… The demons and monsters that plague this land must be careful! The power that flows through my veins are taking control of me! The greatness of my lineage wants to be unleashed and nothing can stop it!"

Nothing, except the daughter of a certain Grandmaster appearing from nowhere and covering herself with nothing but a towel.

"GAAAAAAAAAH!" Startled and extremely embarrassed, Owain took many steps back and covered his flushed face with both hands "Morgan, what are you doing?!"

"Huh?" Morgan, who was completely unaware of the boy's presence until then, looked at him with a confused expression, not noticing his flushed face "What do you mean?"

"Why are you wearing nothing?!" Owain yelled.

"Because I was bathing, duh!" Morgan couldn't understand how he was unable to guess that. She was wet and using a towel! What else could she be doing?

"But why didn't you get dressed?!" Owain felt his face burning intensely.

"Because I left my clothes in father's office." The Proxy explained "I was going to get dressed there."

"Why didn't you get dressed in the bathroom?!"

"Well, in my house, mother never gets dressed in the bathroom. She always does that in her and father's room, so I think I got that habit from her." Morgan said like it was it was the most natural thing in the world.

"But you aren't in your house, Morgan!" Owain complained "Do you how many people may see you like that?! Can you imagine the scandal it would be?!"

"Oh, come on…" The girl said teasingly and got dangerously close to the young Myrmidon "I know you like this…"

The boy noticed her approaching and instinctively jumped back, his face burning even harder.

"D-don't say such perverted things! I w-would never want t-to see you l-like that!" He stuttered "P-please, just g-go to your f-father's office and g-get dressed!"

Morgan giggled at the boy's awkwardness and turned around to leave. As she slowly left, Owain's breath returned to normal and the heat in his face reduced, but he refused to take his hands from it until he was sure Morgan was very far away.

"Hello, Clinton. How are you?" He heard Morgan greeting someone.

"I'm doing fine. Thank you for asking." Someone replied.

Forgetting any embarrassment, Owain immediately looked to where the voices came and saw a guard coming in his direction. Fortunately for him, Morgan was nowhere to be seen.

"H-hey!" He called for the guard "How did you…? I mean, she…"

"What? Morgan?" The guard asked "You get used to that after the sixth or seventh time." He simply dismissed and continued his way.

"Sixth or seventh?!" Owain's jaw dropped.

Only a few seconds after that, Owain heard his father screaming, followed by running feet and Morgan's voice yelling:

"HA! GAYYYYYYYYYY!"

 **The Grandmaster's Office, Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 12:12 PM**

Feeling renewed, Morgan took a deep breath, stretched her arms and sat on her father's chair.

"Ah! Nothing like a good bath to relax!" She declared, feeling light as a plume "Now, there's only one thing I have to do before I go have lunch!"

Without delay, Morgan took a bunch of keys from her pocket, picked one of them and unlocked the second shelf of her father's desk. Inside it, there were envelopes with the names of all the Shepherds written on them. She picked the one with her name.

"Oh, boy! It's so good to be the Grandmaster's daughter!" Morgan exclaimed, happy to put her hands on the bonus she was supposed to get later that month nearly two weeks earlier.

She got up from the chair and was about to leave the office when a thought came to her mind.

"Oh, yes! Maybe I should get the folder Maribelle gave me." She returned to her father's desk and got a key from her pocket "It didn't help me much until now, but who knows? Maybe something she discovered will be useful with the new information I got."

The small key was put in the lock and turned, opening the first shelf of Robin's desk, where Morgan left the folder with a Thoron tome a bit before she went to the party last night.

However, when she opened the shelf, the only thing she saw was the tome.

"Huh?" She tilted her head "I'm sure it was here." Morgan scratched her head a bit confused, but closed the shelf unconcerned and got the key to unlock the other under it "Silly me. I probably confused the shelves."

But the other shelf only had some documents her father left unfinished before going on vacations.

"Okay… It's not here." She then proceeded to the other shelf.

But the other only had some books.

"Neither here…" Morgan closed the shelf and opened a small door in the other side of the desk.

Like before, she found some things like books, documents and even some spare candles, but no folder.

"Neither here…" She closed the door and looked on the desk.

"Neither here." She got up and checked on the display where her father kept some of his most powerful tomes.

"Neither here!" She ran to the bookshelf and checked everything from top to bottom.

"Neither here!" She quickly opened the secret compartment located behind one of the books.

"NEITHER HERE!"

Doors were opened, shelves were inspected, the furniture was moved, books were thrown out of place… The whole office was turned upside down, but the folder was nowhere.

"No way… It can't be…" Morgan looked at the mess she made and panicked inwardly "The folder… The folder Maribelle gave me…"

The girl put both hands in her head and said exasperated:

"It disappeared!"

 **To be continued…**

 _The chapters are becoming longer… Is it a good thing?_

 _In any case, I just hope it was worth the wait and that I haven't bored you to death with so many dialogues, explanations, yadda, yadda, yadda…_

 _I would also like to thank everyone for the support! Knowing that you like this story motivates me to continue and was the biggest reason I didn't give up yet despite my 'problematic period'._

 _Also, in this part I would usually comment the reviews I received like in the previous chapters, but after reading said chapters again I felt like it was a bit 'invasive' and the last thing I want is to be inconvenient._

…

 _Well, MORE inconvenient than I already am, so, from now on, I'll avoid commenting your reviews in the story for the sake of privacy. But don't worry! I still read them all and consider all your suggestions! I just can't promise I'll use everything… :p_

 _I thought about making the chapter shorter by putting something like "Yen'fay told what he and Walhart discovered", "Severa told what they saw", "Gangrel explained what happened" and the like, but it felt a bit… Stupid, and that's why I put the full explanations. It took me a lot of time and made this ridiculously long, though… I hope I made the right choice._

 _And as a final note: I planned to tell why Morgan choose Severa, Inigo and the Spotpass characters for the investigation and what happened to them now, but it would make this already long chapter even longer, so it'll be left for a future point in the story. The same goes for how Morgan and Seiji met, which was teased, but not explained in chapter four._

 _Stay tuned for the next chapter, as we're going back to court!_

 _See you later!_


	8. Flying Mages Spell Trouble

_Before anything else, despite my promise of not commenting your reviews anymore, I'll make two exceptions to credit some people who gave me very important feedback._

 _First, I would like to thank Guest (unfortunately that's how the username appears in the review, so I'm sorry for not being able to specify the person) for telling me the story had no character tags. That was fixed (or at least I think it was) and won't be a problem anymore._

 _Second, I would like to thank Rylek196 for leaving a review in my other story warning me about my dialogue punctuation. I seriously had no idea I was making so many mistakes before he told me and now I'll try to make this right!_

 _Will I start it now? Yes, I will!_

 _Will I fix it in the previous chapters? Very likely!_

 _Will it be sometime soon?_

…

 _I don't know. Maybe yes, maybe no… The problem is that I have too many things to fix and the story must go on, so it'll have to wait a bit. That is, if Grima doesn't kill me before for using his name as an insult so many times._

 _Dastard dragon son of a Gri… Ah… Bitch._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own Fire Emblem, Monster Hunter, Pokémon, Phoenix Wright or anything else that's not this story. Actually, I own some things like my games, my socks, my backpack and some other stuff not worth mentioning, but that's another story for another day…_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 8: Flying Mages Spell Trouble**

 **Ylissean Central Bank, September 25** **th** **, 10:36 AM**

It was another regular day at the Ylissean Central Bank; the workers were doing their job like they always did, the money was coming and going, clients were taking care of their own business and nothing very important had happened yet.

Or at least that's what most people thought.

"I did what you wanted," said one of the workers to the figure at his side. "Now, leave them alone," his voice trembled with contained anger and fear.

The mysterious figure chuckled a bit.

"Now, now… No need for stress. It is bad for the health," the figure put a hand on the worker's shoulder, making a chill run down his spine.

"Don't touch me!" the worker stepped away, taking the figure's hand off his shoulder. "I did my part of the deal, now make yours!"

"It is already done, my good sir," the figure said calmly. "I ensure you, your family is safe and sound like promised," he giggled a bit and began walking away. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go. I am a bit busy today, you know?"

Anyone who saw the mysterious figure leaving the bank that day thought he was just another regular client taking care of his own life, going back home after doing whatever he needed.

They could never imagine the identity of that person.

"Sarah! Michael!" the worker ran calling for his wife and son as soon as the figure left the bank.

He looked around nonstop, his eyes darting every corner, every centimeter of the vast main hall looking for his beloved family.

"By the gods! Sarah! Michael!" he called desperately. This time, though, another voice answered him.

"Claus! Claus!" called a woman running at full speed in his direction.

"Sarah!" he ran at the woman, grabbed her in his arms and hugged her with all his forces. "Are you okay?! Did he hurt you?!"

"No, I'm fine," his wife answered. "but I can't find Michael anywhere!"

Hearing that made his entire body tremble. Both parents began looking around, desperately trying to find their son. The bank was full, lots of people leaving and entering all the time and many accompanied of their children. Finding him in the middle of that enormous mess of legs was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Oh, my gods!" warm tears threatened to fall from the woman's eyes. "Where's my baby?!"

"Damn that man!" Claus cursed, fists clenched in fury. "I swear if he has laid one single finger on our son he will…"

The words died in his throat as his eyes noticed a small boy near the entrance looking around confused. He had a small bag in his left hand and a stuffed dragon on his right one.

"Michael!" the worker called, running straight at the boy with open arms.

The boy looked at the direction where he heard his name being called and smiled widely at the sight of his parents.

"Daddy! Mommy!" he happily ran to them, trying his best to hold the stuffed dragon that was clearly too big for his arm.

Claus and Sarah ran in his direction and held the boy in their arms, warms tears of happiness falling from their eyes and running down their faces. All people nearby looked at them with raised eyebrows, but they didn't care about whatever the others were thinking. Their son was safe and that was all that mattered.

"Michael, are you okay?! Did that horrible man do something to you?!" Sarah asked worried, her eyes still teary.

"No, he was very nice to me!" the small boy declared. "He bought me candies and this dragon! After that, he told me to wait for you here!" he then noticed his parents' teary eyes. "Mommy, daddy, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, dear, you did absolutely nothing wrong!" Claus sobbed "We're just happy to have you here again!"

"I missed you too!" the boy announced with a wide smile.

For many moments, the three family members remained hugged, just enjoying each other's company. What felt like a horrible nightmare was finally over and they could resume their lives.

"Dear, who was that man?" Sarah suddenly asked. "How did he know you? And what did he want?"

"Don't worry," Claus shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's over now," he gave his wife a quick kiss on the lips.

"But I need to know!" Sarah insisted. "I simply can't dismiss it as nothing has happened!"

Claus nodded. He wanted to keep his family out of that, but after everything they went through they deserved to know the truth. At least, his wife deserved.

"I'll tell everything, dear, but not now," he had a serious expression. "First, we better go back home."

While all that happened, outside the bank, in a not very far away alley, a mysterious figure smiling widely walked calmly into the darkness, disappearing like it was never there. Just a few seconds later, a black stork left the same alley, flying to somewhere else.

 **Meal room, Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 01:21 PM**

"DISAPPEARED?!" Noire, Laurent, Kjelle, Nah and Yarne said in unison, completely jaw dropped.

"Yes, disappeared," Morgan confirmed with a sigh. "Evaporated, teleported, dematerialized or whatever else… It's simply gone like it was never there."

"But… How?!" Noire asked completely confused.

"I don't know," Morgan raised her shoulders. "My best bet is that someone entered in father's office and stole it."

"Are you sure you didn't leave it somewhere else?" Laurent asked.

"I am," Morgan scratched her head. "I remember it very well: yesterday, a bit before I went to the party, I left the folder in the same shelf I put the Thoron tome, but when I checked it some time ago, it wasn't there," the girl sighed again.

"And the only thing they stole was the folder?" Yarne asked intrigued, to which Morgan answered with a nod.

"Bastards!" Kjelle cursed. "They're clearly trying to trouble Lucina!"

"Do you think so?" Nah asked worried.

"Seems to be the case," Laurent went to explain. "If they could open the locked shelf, then they had ways to open the others. A regular thief looking for something valuable would open everything and take whatever he could, but the only thing they got was the folder, which had evidence Maribelle gathered to be used in Lucina's defense."

"Even worse," Morgan joined "whoever did it knew exactly where to look."

That statement made most of the present gasp. Laurent and Kjelle just furrowed the brow, having thought the same thing Morgan did.

"Wait, really?!" Yarne was incredulous. "How do you know that?!"

"Let's review what happened," Morgan began without making eye contact. "I enter in the office and look in the shelf where I left the folder, only to discover it isn't there anymore. Then, I proceed to look for it everywhere else and find ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG OR OUT OF PLACE," she looked at the boy. "If it was someone who didn't know where to look…"

"They would have looked somewhere else and took something out of place!" the boy realized.

"Sure, there's the possibility that the person was just lucky and made a good guess," the Proxy added. "but I doubt that's the case. The folder disappears while I'm out and nothing seems wrong? Ha! If there's something I discovered is that everything related to this case must be double checked FOR PRECAUTION."

"But the door was locked when you arrived, wasn't it?" Nah asked Morgan. "How could they enter without forcing the lock if you're the only one who has the key?"

Morgan raised her shoulders.

"That has been bugging me for some time now," she closed her eyes and leaned against the chair. "Opening the shelves isn't much of a problem as their locks are regular ones, but the one in the door is another story," Morgan returned to her original position. "It's a reinforced version specially ordered by father and made with the best materials and techniques available. Only the best, and with the best I mean THE BEST, thieves can open it without the key."

"Do you think the person that invaded your father's office is the same that entered in Lucina's room?" Yarne mused.

"I doubt," Morgan rubbed her chin thoughtful. "Who invaded father's office is clearly a very good professional and who entered in Lucina's room is surely an amateur. Besides, if they were looking for the folder and knew it was in father's office, then why invade Lucina's room? And if they invaded Lucina's room thinking it was there, why they made such a big mess, but barely moved anything in the office?"

That made everyone stop to think. By what they could see, they were dealing with two different thieves of different levels. If that was the case, then one of them was looking for the folder and the other for something else.

But what could Lucina be hiding in her room that would make someone try to steal it?

And who would try to trouble her?

"What are you going to do about that, Morgan?" Kjelle suddenly broke the silence.

"For now, I don't have much choice but wait," the Proxy answered monotonously. "I don't have any clues to what has happened, so the guards are inspecting the castle after anything suspicious, Tick is checking Lucina's room and Maggot is checking father's office. I wanted to help them, but they told me it would be better if I concentrated my energies on planning a strategy for the trial."

" _Not that I can do much with the mountains of lies Lucina keeps throwing on me…"_ she bitterly thought.

"They're right," Laurent said adjusting his glasses. "The trial will be resumed today at five, so you don't have much time to plan," he got up from the chair. "We better let you have some space to think."

Everyone nodded and one by one they got up and began to leave. While they headed to the door, Morgan fidgeted nervously, wondering if she should do what she wanted. After what happened with Lucina earlier that day, Morgan feared it would end in another massive wave of badly made excuses and obvious lies, but the young Proxy also knew she wouldn't have another chance to do that later, which made her indecision become worse.

In the end, the sense of urgency won and she gathered enough courage to ask:

"Yarne, could you please stay a bit more?"

The Taguel boy stopped in his tracks and turned around, a confused expression on his face.

"Uh? Why?"

"I wanted to discuss about that strategy I commented a few days ago," Morgan smiled mischievously.

"What?! That thing?! Now?!" Yarne's ears went up in surprise and incredulity. "Shouldn't you use your time to prepare for the trial?!"

"Oh, come on! Only work and no fun makes for a dull tactician, did you know?" the girl put her hands on the hips and pouted a bit. "Besides, it won't take more than one or two minutes."

"NO! Forget it!" Yarne shook his head negatively and stepped back. "This isn't the time for that and you know it! Take your job as Lucina's attorney more seriously!"

"Hey! I'm taking my job seriously!" Morgan shot back offended.

"G-guys, no need to argue!" Noire quickly intervened before things got out of control. "Yarne is right, Morgan. I don't know what's that strategy you want to discuss with him, but that'll have to wait. Besides, he and Nah planned to train together today."

A chill ran down Yarne's spine and made his whole body shake violently. He completely forgot that!

"I'm sure he doesn't…"

"On second thought," Yarne interrupted Noire smiling nervously. "I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to discuss that strategy now."

"Huh? S-seriously?" the young Archer asked astonished.

"Yes! I mean, if we solve it now, then we won't have to solve it later! Right? Right?!" he laughed awkwardly.

The sudden change of mind made nearly everyone give the (clearly nervous) Taguel a weird look, the only exceptions being Morgan, who expected some reaction of that kind after hearing Nah's name, and the Manakete, who sulked after hearing the boy and angrily left the room before the others.

Although still confused, Noire, Laurent and Kjelle left without saying anything more, only wondering what had happened. When everyone left, Yarne sighed in defeat and took a chair near Morgan.

"I don't know why you want to discuss this now, but I'll make one thing very clear!" he gave her a stern look. "I'm not going to let you mount me on battle! What do you think I am? A horse?!"

"First, I still think that's a giant waste of potential. I mean, imagine all the tactics we could create with a combination of your speed and my magical artillery!" Morgan said enthusiastic, which made Yarne sigh again. "Second, although I still plan to convince you to agree with this, that's not what I wanted to discuss."

That got the boy by surprise.

"But then… What is it?" he asked.

Morgan scratched the back of her head nervously; she didn't want to delate Brady, much less have an argument with other friend, but if she wanted to discover something she would have to do exactly what she did with Lucina: go straight to the point.

"Yarne, my dear boy…" Morgan looked deep in his eyes. "Did something happen between you and Nah?"

Yarne nearly fell of his chair.

"W-what?!" he stuttered. "Why do you ask?!"

"Yesterday, after the trial, Brady told me you and Nah were acting weird," Morgan began explaining. "Since I couldn't keep an eye on you two today because of the investigation, I asked some people to do it for me and they said you are avoiding each other."

The boy's face was covered in sweat.

"Listen, I know it was invasive and will understand if you get angry at me," she inched closer to him. "But don't get angry at Brady, okay? He only told me that because he's worried about you two," Morgan sighed. "And I'm worried as well."

For the sake of avoiding a conflict like the one she had with Lucina, Morgan omitted that she and Brady were wondering if it could be related to the case, hoping Yarne to be more collaborative if he thought they were just worried about him (which wasn't exactly a lie, but not the whole truth as well).

For many seconds, Yarne simply avoided eye contact and tapped his fingers insecurely on the chair, making Morgan fear it would be another giant mess like some hours ago, but all her worries were proven wrong as the Taguel suddenly sighed and asked:

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

Relieved, Morgan dried some cold sweat from her forehead and nodded.

"Very well…" the boy's voice revealed a bit of reluctance, but he proceeded anyways.

"A few days ago, in the same day when the crime happened to be more specific, I was on the training grounds when Nah called me and asked if I wanted to go to the festival with her. I agreed and we decided to meet near the village around eight. Nothing was wrong until then, but…" he suddenly stopped.

"But…?" Morgan invited him to continue.

"I had to cancel."

"Cancel?" at first, Morgan couldn't understand what it meant, but as she put more thought on what he said it became clear he cancelled his appointment with Nah.

"Wait… But why did you do that?"

"Because…" Yarne scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I had to go somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

"To… Uh…"

"Yarne, what are you hiding?" the girl inquired with a severe tone.

"I… Ah…" the boy shook his head. "You know what? I won't try to play dumb anymore. The truth is: I forgot the appointment with Nah and promised to go on a date with another girl."

If it was possible, Morgan's jaw would have dropped until it touched the floor.

"What?! You cancelled an appointment with Nah to go out with ANOTHER GIRL?!" the Proxy yelled angrily at his face. "You worthless bastard! How could you?!"

"I know! I know! It was very bad!" Yarne covered his face with both hands. "But it was an accident! I didn't want to upset anyone!"

"And why did you cancel your appointment with Nah instead of the date with the other girl?!"

"Because I had just met her!" he exclaimed defensively. "If I cancelled our date, then she would never want to speak with me again! I thought Nah would understand, because we've been friends for years, but she got super upset at that!"

"Of course she got! Who wouldn't?!"

"It wasn't my intention!" Yarne said desperately. "She doesn't want to speak with me anymore and I can't find the courage to face her again! I don't know what to do!"

"I'll tell you what you can do." Morgan jumped from her chair and grabbed the boy's ears. "You can start looking for a new pair to replace these two!"

"OW! OW! OW!" the poor Taguel cried in pain as his ears were mercilessly pulled. "I SCREWED IT! I KNOW AND I'M RIDICULOUSLY SORRY! NOTHING WILL MAKE UP FOR THAT AND I DON'T BLAME YOU OR NAH FOR BEING FURIOUS AT ME, BUT PLEASE LEAVE MY POOR EARS OUT OF THIS!"

Deep down, all she wanted was to tear his ears apart and sell them in the black market, but that would accomplish nothing and just dirt the meal room with blood, so Morgan bitterly, if not a bit reluctant, let go of him. Yarne recoiled in his chair, rubbing his ears to ease the pain.

"Ugh… You are…" Morgan began.

"Ridiculous, worthless, putrid and a freaking Nagafucker?" Yarne guessed, to which Morgan just nodded with a stern glare. "I know… I know… I'm so ashamed of myself…"

Now, the whole problem about Nah and Yarne was solved; in the end, like Tick hypothesized, it was much more personal than related to the case and no one could blame the Manakete girl for being in such a bad mood after what happened to her. That also explained why Yarne was avoiding the girls like the pest; if any of them discovered that, which apparently wasn't the case since no one ever spoke about the subject until then, he would be EXTREMELY troubled.

"Uh… Morgan…" Yarne suddenly called insecure. "I know I'm in no position to ask you anything, but… You promised not to tell anyone about this, so… You won't tell, will you?"

Morgan gave him a fulminant glare that could open holes in steel, making Yarne immediately regret ever saying anything.

"I should," she said drily. "But a promise is a promise, so consider this our little secret."

"Thank you," Yarne said a bit relieved.

As much as it irritated her, Morgan decided to keep her word and tell no one about that. Unlike someone else, he at least had the good sense of being sincere, so the Proxy would consider it an 'exchange of favors'.

"Uh… Can I go now?" the boy asked.

"If you can?" Morgan retorted with a disgusted tone. "You MUST. Disappear from my sight."

"Thank you. And… Sorry." Yarne muttered apologetically.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," the girl turned her face away from him.

Yarne quickly got up, turned around and headed to the door, but before leaving he looked back and muttered a weak 'good-bye' to Morgan, which she simply ignored. When he was gone, Morgan shook her head frustrated and facepalmed.

"This is ridiculous in so many levels," the headache returned with full force. "Why everyone is this army must be a weirdo or do stupid things all the time? Ugh… What a week for father to go on vacations… All this stress will make my hair turn white before the time!"

While the Proxy drowned in self-pity to the point of forgetting her own hair color, Yarne walked down the hall trying to leave as soon as possible and rubbing his hurt ears.

" _Ow, man… That hurt so much!"_ he mentally cried. _"But was necessary, nonetheless. I can't let anyone discover THAT yet,"_ he looked back with an apologetical look. _"I'm sorry, Morgan. I'll tell you the truth, just not today. I hope you'll understand it was for HER sake."_

 **Meanwhile…**

After hours waiting for their father, Lime and Pear were defeated by tiredness and fell asleep on the couch, leaning their heads against each other's. Cherry took the pot of crystallized fruits her younger brother was holding and ate what was left while admiring the view from the window. Yubari was sitting on his father's chair, a calm expression on his face that hid how impatient he was getting.

" _Father's taking too long to come back,"_ the oldest sibling thought a bit worried. _"I hope nothing has happened."_

"Hey, Yubari," Cherry suddenly called and pointed to somewhere outside the window. Yubari got up from the chair and looked where his sister was pointing, noticing a black stork approaching.

"It was about time," he said relieved and turning to his sleeping siblings. "Hey, you two. Wake up, father returned."

Lime grumbled and opened her eyes a bit reluctant; Pear, on other hand, immediately got up and turned to face the approaching stork. After a few more seconds fighting her sleepiness, Lime rubbed her eyes and positioned at Pear's side.

Yubari and Cherry took a few steps back from the window, just enough for the black stork to enter and land right in front of them. It clattered a few times before being surrounded by a deep black smoke that swirled around it. The smoke slowly disappeared, revealing a man where the stork once was.

He was the siblings' father, a tall, slender man that looked to be in his early thirties, despite being more than forty years old. His hair reached the shoulders and were of an extremely deep black. He had soft features, a wide, sinister smile and eyes of a yellow much stronger than any of his children. He wore a very refined black shirt, like the ones noblemen usually wear and his pants were equally fancy and colored dark. His shoes were made of leather and shone like they had been bought just a few minutes ago. His most striking characteristic, though, was a black tribal tattoo shaped like a stork on the left side of his neck.

"I apologize for making you wait so much," he said humbly.

"It's okay," Cherry said back. "But we were a bit worried. What took you so long?"

The man giggled.

"Nothing special," he calmly sat on his chair. "I just wanted to make sure everything was going sweetly like planned and checked the Proxy's underlings."

Yubari, Cherry and Lime widened their eyes in surprise.

"Father, I know you never take a risk without being totally sure it's worth," the oldest sibling began. "However, don't you think it was… Imprudent?" the last part was said with a bit of apprehension.

The man turned his gaze to Yubari, who looked down in submission.

"There is no need for fear, my son," he laughed a bit. "Your worry is completely comprehensible and indeed it was a bit imprudent of my part," he turned around to look through the window. "I simply could not resist the opportunity of knowing how close the young Proxy has gotten to the sour truth."

"And how much she has?" Lime asked unnaturally timid.

"Why do you always get so weird when father is nearby?" Pear bluntly asked, unaware of how embarrassing that subject was for his sister.

"Ugh!" Lime blushed and glared furiously at her brother. "You little pest! I should…"

The girl raised a hand, ready to give a good slap on the back of Pear's head, but the sound of a throat being cleared made her flinch and look at her father, who had turned his face to give her one his rare glares. The girl lowered her hand and looked down, her face a deep red.

"Embarrassing or not, it is not a reason to hurt your brother," he said with a calm, but extremely severe tone. "Am I understood, Lime?"

"Y-yes, father…" the girl replied lowly.

His glare disappeared instantaneously.

"Good," he then turned to face his youngest child with a much softer, but also stern look. "As for you, Pear, please be more careful with what you say. You have a bad habit of touching in sensitive subjects too bluntly."

"Ah… Okay," Pear complied, although a bit unsure of what he did wrong.

"As for your question, my sweetie…" the man turned to face the view again. "The Proxy has made a good progress, but the princess seems reluctant to help, unaware of how that can become a problem for herself," he gave a low sadistic laugh. "This is so deliciously ironic. The little princess is going to burn herself after fighting so desperately to prove her innocence."

"And the reason she lied… Oh, boy…" Cherry giggled maliciously. "I can't wait to see that."

"Well, if everything's okay and things are going like expected…" Yubari adjusted his bangs. "What do we do now, father?"

The man laughed sadistically and smiled widely.

"Now, my dear children, we prepare for the next part of our little scheme," he turned to face the siblings. "And the next part needs to be executed with perfection, thus the reason I asked you to wait for me."

"So we could discuss together," Lime commented weakly.

"Exactly, my dear. We need to get ready for anything, after all…" his eyes shone a sinister yellow and he chuckled evilly. "It will be even riskier than what I did now."

 **Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 04:53 PM**

Only a few more minutes and Lucina's judgment would be resumed. The Shepherds and all other people summoned to be part of the audience were arriving and slowly preparing for another day of trials and tribulations.

Seiji arrived after everyone else, quickly entering the hall and heading straight to the court room. As he passed, Maribelle and Libra followed him with the eyes, both giving him a weird look. Despite not being very familiar with trials or the people who used to be part of them, the gallant woman who wasn't a woman knew a thing or two thanks to his wife, so the War Monk and the Valkyrie knew Seiji preferred to arrive before anyone else, which meant he was unusually late.

And, just like Seiji arrived unusually late, Morgan arrived unusually early.

 **Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 04:35 PM**

"So, what did you two discover?" Morgan asked Maggot and Tick. For precaution, the three agreed to meet near the restrooms, where they could see if anyone was approaching more easily.

"We went to Ever Woods and checked the marks Inigo and Severa found," Tick began. "After some comparisons, we discovered what made the cuts."

"And it would be?"

"They were made not by a blade, but by claws,"

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"Claws?"

"Affirmative," Maggot confirmed. "The exact animal that made them is still unknown, but the marks are compatible with a wyvern."

"And that's not all," Tick resumed. "Do you remember the holes in the treetops? Well, we checked them and the one in the clearing where Lucina and the merchant were found was made by something that needed to be at least the same size as an adult wyvern, but the one in the smaller clearing could be done by something just as big as a relatively short person."

Morgan scratched her head confused. A wyvern was understandable, but a person? How could a person appear from nowhere and fall in the forest? Hitting Sumia before, on top of that?

More: the claw marks and the hole in the clearing said there was a wyvern in that place at some point and per Yen'fay and Walhart an old wyvern made residence in Ever Woods not long ago. Connecting these facts and how it was the same place where Nikolai Loss was found dead, one could say he wasn't murdered by Lucina, but the victim of an unhappy accident with a wyvern.

Unfortunately, some facts went against that hypothesis. The cuts in the merchant's body were compatible with Falchion and Lucina had a mark alike to his sword's hilt on the back of her neck. If it was just an accident, then why would he be attacked by Falchion AND attack Lucina?

Apparently, the wyvern and everything it left behind were just coincidentally in the same place everything happened, but Morgan couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling in the back of her head that there was much more to that than it seemed at first glance.

"Well, something else?" she asked, trying to keep her mind away from that feeling.

"We went to the place where Mr. Gangrel and Lady Emmeryn found the molten cauldron," Maggot told. "After some analysis, we discovered that whatever exploded there was of magical origin."

"Magical origin?" the Proxy asked.

"It was probably a failed curse, by the amount of dark magic we detected," the man proceeded to explain. "We couldn't discover who made the curse, but the cauldron may have delated the person."

"What do you mean?"

"The cauldron still had some energy from its owner stored in it," Tick entered the conversation. "We found energy from three different people, but the most abundant belongs to your friend Tharja."

Morgan's jaw dropped.

"Tharja?!" she asked incredulous.

"Yup," Tick confirmed. "The other two people are Henry and Noire. Both are part of her family which reinforces the ownership."

"But what on Earth would she be doing in a place so far away from the town?" Morgan scratched her head.

"Would it help you if we brought the cauldron here?" Maggot asked. "Maybe showing it to Tharja will convince her to speak."

Morgan stopped to consider that possibility. Truth be said, it was very unlikely that whatever Tharja was doing would help much in the case as the whole incident with Sumia had little effect on the events and with Lucina lying nonstop the facts wouldn't connect anyways.

On other hand, if Morgan didn't do it, then she would have nothing to use in court. After Yarne's revelation, the young Proxy spent the rest of the afternoon planning a strategy for the trial like Maggot and Tick suggested, but with the whole problem of the time inconsistency and Lucina not helping, the time spent with that became just an enormous waste of Morgan's neurons. She managed to have a few ideas, but they were very weak and could be used only in an emergency, so…

"Yes, bring it here," Morgan sighed a bit irritated. "I sincerely don't know how that will help me, but I don't have a better idea," frustrated, stressed and feeling the annoying headache returning, she quickly changed the subject. "What about Lucina's room and my father's office? Did you discover something?"

Maggot and Tick exchanged a look, which made Morgan a bit nervous.

"Well…" Tick scratched the back of his head. "What we discovered is… Confusing to say the least."

"What do you mean?" Morgan tilted her head.

"Who invaded the princess's room is an amateur, that's for sure," the young man explained. "But there's ONE very intriguing detail: the door's lock wasn't forced using physical strength, but a curse."

"A curse?" the girl inquired surprised. "What kind?"

"A regular one. Not very strong," Tick put both hands behind his head. "One thing I gotta say, though: whoever did it is very good. The curse left traces of what ingredients were used, but not of the caster. Applying a curse without leaving traces anywhere else than the affected place is already the work of someone experienced, but applying one without leaving traces of who made it is something only professionals can do."

" _A professional? Oh, gods… Don't tell me…"_ Morgan nearly facepalmed.

"Your father's office is another story, though," Maggot interrupted the girl's thoughts. "The door wasn't forced and we found no traces of magic anywhere. Whoever entered there was a professional thief or had the keys."

"Someone else having the keys is impossible. The only copies belong to me, mother and father. It was a thief, no doubt about that," Morgan concluded confidently.

"If it was a thief, then it's someone who wants the princess behind the bars, boss," Tick commented. "Otherwise, why would they steal only the folder?"

That was exactly what Morgan had been thinking since she discovered her father's office was invaded. Whoever did it wanted to eliminate anything that could prove Lucina's innocence. Why? That was a question she didn't have the answer and wasn't worth her time in the moment, so that could wait.

"What about the DNA machine?" Morgan asked.

"The parts are scheduled to arrive soon and they're the only thing shorty needs now," Tick told. "After that, he'll probably need just ten or fifteen minutes to finish the repairs and more forty to make the tests."

"So, everything will be done around…" Morgan made a few quick calculations in her head. "Five fifty-five. Yeah… I think I can hold the trial until then."

"Well, with all that done and finished… What do we do now, boss?" Tick asked.

"For now, you two can return to the HQ." Morgan said. "Help Flea however you can and if something happens, whatever it is, text me. I probably won't answer your messages because of the trial, but I ensure you I'll look everything."

"Understood."

"Gotcha!"

The two men disappeared in a cloud of purplish smoke, leaving Morgan alone in the empty hall. The young Proxy was about to turn around and leave to the court room when a thought came to her.

"GAH! I forgot to ask Maggot what happened to everyone during the investigation!" she felt a bit disappointed, but quickly shook her head dismissively and turned around. "Ah… Whatever. It's probably not important. If it was, Maggot would have told me already."

 **Court room, Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 5:02 PM**

"Finally!" Lucina exclaimed a bit irritated at the approaching Proxy. "I was getting worried!"

"Sorry for the delay," Morgan simply said while taking her place at Lucina's side without looking at her. "Did I lose something?"

"Nothing important," the princess replied.

"Good," her attorney said back.

Morgan and Lucina weren't angry at each other like earlier that day, but they weren't exactly in good terms yet. The princess kept a stoic and emotionless face, while the Proxy avoided eye contact and seemed to be annoyed at something. Chrom, Sumia and all the other Shepherds in the front row noticed their weird behavior and wondered what happened to them.

"Morgan, Lucina," Sumia called from behind. "Is everything okay?"

Both girls grumbled lowly.

"Yes, everything's fine," they said in an irritated unison.

Sumia and Chrom exchanged worried looks; it was very clear everything WASN'T fine

"Hey, I just noticed one thing," Morgan said, suddenly realizing something and turning to face Lucina for the first time. "Where's Cynthia?"

"Cynthia is in the castle," Lucina answered with a blank expression. "She's helping fix the toilet wall with Brady, Owain, Severa and Inigo."

"Toilet wall? Which toilet wall?" Morgan asked curiously, before remembering a little 'incident' she accidentally revealed the day before. "Ah… Stupid question. Forget it, I just remembered which one."

…

"Wait, why are they doing that?" the Grandmaster's daughter suddenly broke the silence.

"Punishment," Lucina revealed. "Do you know about the whole 'smartphones' mess?"

"Yes, Noire told me a bit earlier. Why?"

"Father thought it would be a good way to punish her for hiding it and spending so much money from the family's treasure without asking," Lucina told nonchalant. "Maribelle, Cordelia, Frederick and Lissa also liked the idea and… Well, the rest you probably guessed."

"Poor Severa… She was the only whose both parents agreed…" Morgan felt a bit bad for her friend, but that statement made her realize something else.

"Wait, Inigo didn't have a smartphone. He asked for one, that's true, but he didn't have it yet and by what you said neither Gaius or Olivia were angry," she raised an eyebrow. "Why would they make him do it too?"

Lucina raised her shoulders.

"I don't know. By what I heard, it was father's idea. He says it's because he thought Inigo would be a good help to them, but I'm sure it's just revenge for all the times he flirted with me."

Morgan nodded in agreement; Chrom was a jerk for trying to use her father's influence to win the trial, but she could understand his reasons to punish Inigo too. Even Robin once threatened to fry the Mercenary with a Mjolnir tome when he went to his house looking for Morgan holding a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates.

Robin made Inigo flee desperately and burned the bouquet, but kept the chocolates to eat with Aversa and Morgan later.

Distracted by her conversation, Morgan didn't notice how confidently (and a bit sadistically) Seiji was smiling, while he patiently waited for the trial to begin.

"Everyone get up! The judge has arrived!" one of the guards loudly announced, prompting everyone to get up from their seats while the judge slowly walked towards his.

"You can sit now," the old man calmly declared after taking his place.

When everyone was back to their seats, the judge groomed his beard and began the trial.

"Today, we resume the judgment of Ms. Lucina, accused of murdering Nikolai Loss during the first night of the Aeternum Village's festival," he announced with a loud voice. "Yesterday, due to a lack of usable evidence from both the defense and the prosecution, the parts were authorized to conduct investigations until the trial was resumed today," the elderly man gave the attorney and the prosecutor a serious stare. "Were your investigations fruitful?"

Morgan pulled the collar of her shirt and gulped; she did discover a lot of things, but some of them weren't good for her cause, so she was a bit unsure if 'fruitful' was the right word to use.

"Yes, Your Honor, the investigation went smoothly and was very fruitful," Seiji suddenly spoke with a relaxed voice.

Morgan widened her eyes and gave Seiji a shocked look. He said that so relaxed and confident it even sounded a bit arrogant. Considering how nervous he was the day before, it could mean only one thing:

He knew something.

"What about you, Ms. Morgan?"

The judge's question made the attorney snap out of her thoughts and return to reality.

"The investigation went well," she simply said, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Very well," the judge nodded. "In this case, let's begin the trial. Since the defense had the right to be the first to summon a witness or present evidence yesterday, today will be the prosecution's turn to start."

"Actually…" Seiji used a mischievous tone. "The prosecution would like to give the defense the right to start."

"GAH!" Morgan loudly shouted in shock, falling backwards from her chair.

"Morgan?! Are you okay?! What happened?!" Lucina asked worried.

"Ms. Morgan?" the judge also showed concern for the (fallen) girl.

While everyone looked at the Proxy lying on the floor wondering what caused that reaction, she tried to process what had just happened.

" _Seiji gave me the chance to start?!"_ her mind spiraled in confusion. _"But I don't have a good witness to call now! Nor a good evidence to show! I was expecting him to call someone so I could find a witness to go on from where he stopped! If I summon ANYONE now I'll just show that Lucina was lying!"_

Gasping, the girl slowly recovered her composure, got up, adjusted her chair and sat with trembling legs.

"I'm sorry…" she said embarrassed, a faint tone of nervousness in her voice. "Uh… Can I really start?" she asked the judge.

"It isn't what was supposed to happen," he said calmly. "The prosecution has the right to give in its right, though, so it's completely acceptable."

"Yes, after all…" Seiji turned to face Morgan with a smug smile. "Ladies first, right?"

If the situation allowed, Morgan's face would have turned inwards with worry, but with some self-control and perseverance she managed to keep a calm expression and force a smile.

"Aw… Aren't you a sweetie? I wonder why you don't have a girlfriend yet."

Seiji grumbled and turned his slightly flushed face away. Despite the prosecutor's little moment of weakness, the young attorney knew she was very troubled.

" _That's bad… Super bad! Seiji knows something. He knows I have no one to call!"_ sweat rolled down her face. _"He knows I'm cornered, which means he knows about Lucina!"_

Knowing he would discover it sooner or later didn't make the thing easier to stomach, but that wasn't the time for despair; she managed to escape bad situations before through sheer talent and deliciousness, so she couldn't let a little inconvenience unbalance her.

That is, a little inconvenience the size of an elephant.

"Well, since everyone agrees," Morgan got up and adjusted her coat. "I'll gladly start."

The judge nodded.

"Do you have any witness to summon or evidence to show?" he asked.

"I have one person," Morgan announced emotionless. She wasn't happy to do it so soon in the trial, but showing that Lucina, Cynthia, Gerome and Sumia were telling the truth was the best way available to prove the princess's innocence in the moment and everything else was related to the little problem with what Lucina was doing before the festival and when she arrived, so Morgan didn't have much choice.

"I want to call…" the white-haired girl turned around and pointed at someone in the back of the court room. "Tharja to the witness seat."

The Sorceress seemed a bit surprised for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.

"I don't know why, but if you say so…" the woman got up and marched to the witness seat, Noire accompanying her with confused eyes.

Tharja took the seat in the middle of the room, prompting Morgan to walk towards her, stopping just a few centimeters away, her eyes fixed on the woman.

"What do you want with me?" Tharja asked nonchalant.

Morgan proceeded to explain:

"During my investigations, I discovered that not only one, but four flying objects were seen during the night of the crime," people began commenting Morgan's revelation. "One is a wyvern that made residence in Ever Woods. The second is an unidentified creature that was seen chasing something a bit later that night. The third was sighted flying towards Ever Woods from a faraway hill after an explosion. The last was seen by only a few people who, unfortunately, my team couldn't find, but apparently was hit by something over the forest and fell there."

Whispers everywhere.

"All of them may be connected to the case, but I called you here to discuss specifically the third one."

"Why is that so?" Tharja asked.

"Some people that worked for me in the investigation went to the hill where the flying creature was seen after the explosion. There, they found a small circle of burned grass and a molten cauldron near an inn of dubious fame called the Demon's Bed. The point is: after some analysis, we found traces of energy compatible with you in the molten cauldron."

More whispers.

"I know where you're trying to get," Tharja interrupted indifferent. "And I'll make one thing very clear right now: it wasn't me."

"Oh, really?" Morgan crossed her arms. "So, how do you explain the cauldron having your traces in it?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

" _Is that the answer she gives me?"_ Morgan felt a drop of cold sweat running down the back of her head. _"For someone who's saying it wasn't her, she's giving a very suspicious answer."_

"In that case…" Morgan turned to the guards, who nodded and left the room.

After a few seconds, they returned carrying a molten cauldron left in the room for evidences some minutes earlier. Morgan told them to leave the object in front of the witness seat, just a bit to her right.

"Look at this," the girl pointed at the cauldron. "Tell me: is this yours?"

Tharja examined the cauldron, checking it from bottom to top. A quick examination later, she sighed irritated and said:

"Yes, it's mine, but I have no idea how it ended like that or what it was doing near that place."

"So, it's yours, but you weren't near the Demon's Bed neither made this?"

Tharja nodded.

"And where were you and what were you doing that night?" Morgan inquired.

The Sorceress sighed and told her story.

 **Witness Testimony**

"It was a regular day. I made some curses, collected some ingredients, hexed a person or two… Nothing special. After lunch, Noire went out to spend the day with her boyfriend."

Noire and Laurent blushed intensely, while Miriel and Ricken gave the boy a surprised look.

"H-he isn't my boyfriend!" the young Archer declared embarrassed. "We're just friends and absolutely nothing more than that!"

For some reason, that statement made Laurent a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, yeah… Sure," Tharja replied unconvinced. "With her out, it was only me and Henry for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't so bad at first, but Henry became very annoying after some time, constantly pestering me with his 'experiments' and talks about corpses or maggots. The worst part was when he began trying to summon a Risen… That idiot man nearly destroyed the house two times trying to do that."

"Why on Earth were you trying to summon a Risen, Hen…" Morgan turned around to give the Sorcerer a stern glare, but noticed he was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh? Where's he?"

"Father went to the bathroom," Noire told.

"Oh…"

"In any case," Tharja resumed her testimony." I got tired of his stupidities and told him to play outside, far away from the house. I was so irritated I didn't notice when he left. Some hours later, a bit after seven thirty, I left to go somewhere else buy something, but they didn't have what I wanted, so I returned home. Noire and Henry were still out and I was in a bad mood for not finding what I wanted, so I decided to eat something and go straight to bed. I awakened some minutes after midnight to drink something and Henry was already at my side and Noire was in her room."

…

"Is that all?" Morgan asked, to which Tharja just nodded.

"Very well," the judge said. "In this case, let's start the examination."

 **Direct Examination**

"My dear Tharja, of all questions I have to make you, the one I would like to start with is…" Morgan approached the Sorceress, gave her a mischievous smile and asked without hesitation:

"What were Noire and Laurent doing?"

Said Archer and Mage nearly fell of their chairs.

"I don't know and I don't want to," Tharja answered annoyed. "Whatever she was doing with her boyfriend isn't of my interest. That is, unless she appears home pregnant."

"HE ISN'T MY BOYFRIEND! HE'S JUST A FRIEND AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING MORE THAN THAT!" Noire yelled from the back of the room, her face a deep red.

"Y-yes… You heard her…" Laurent confirmed lowly.

"Ooooh… So it could be something naughty?" Morgan asked teasingly.

"OBJECTION!" Seiji interrupted. "Your Honor, she's wasting our time with questions that aren't related to the case. The only thing she's doing is satiating her own curiosity."

The judge nodded.

"Objection granted. Ms. Morgan, please concentrate in the case."

"You killjoy…" Morgan growled lowly at Seiji. "In this case, let's proceed to the next question: what exactly did you do after seven thirty?"

"I already answered that," Tharja said nonchalant. "I went somewhere to buy something. Can we proceed to the next question so I can return to my seat?"

"Not so fast, little Sorceress!" the attorney pointed an accusing finger at the witness. "Your description was way too vague! We need details!"

"Why? It isn't important to the case."

"How can you know?" Morgan shot back challenging.

"I just know."

" _Ugh… What's wrong with that woman?"_ Morgan grumbled mentally.

While Morgan and Tharja argued, Henry returned from the bathroom.

"Ah… I feel so relieved now!" the Sorcerer happily announced, returning to his seat at Noire's left. "What did I lose?" he asked the Archer.

"Mother was summoned as a witness," she told her father. "Now she's arguing with Morgan."

"Morgan and Tharja are arguing?" Henry asked with a cheeky smile. "Oh, boy! That's going to be fun!"

"You just know?" Morgan facepalmed. "What kind of answer is that? I can't imagine anything more suspicious!" she glared sternly at Tharja. "That clearly means you're hiding something. You better tell it now, before you get yourself in trouble! And don't try any of your tricks, Ms. Curser, because I know you very well!"

The Sorceress gave a low sarcastic laugh.

"You know? What do you know about me? Just because you're Robin's daughter doesn't mean you know anything about me or anyone in this army. You can try how much you want, you'll never be as great as him. Accept the facts… You'll always be in his shadow."

Morgan's jaw dropped in utmost shock and indignation, while all the Shepherds recoiled in their chairs; that was an EXTREMELY sensitive subject for Morgan and the slightest mention to it could have disastrous effects.

"How dare you?! I've spent days learning everything about you all just to keep this army in perfect state whenever father couldn't, so don't mock me or my skills!" the Proxy declared furiously, which made Tharja laugh lowly again. "And I know my father's still better, but that's why he trains me so diligently! Mocking my abilities is mocking his teachings and that's something I won't accept! Besides…"

She inched closer to Tharja and with a sardonic smile said:

"You're so sour with me simply because I'm the living proof that father is much better with mother than he would ever be with you."

Tharja's face darkened as she gritted her teeth furiously.

"Just because you're Robin's daughter I won't fry you here and now," the Sorceress uttered with overflowing hatred.

"I don't need your mercy, WITCH," the Proxy glared with boiling anger.

"WIZARD FIGHT! WIZARD FIGHT! YAY!" Henry celebrated from the back, prompting Noire to ask him to stay quiet.

"Order in the court!" the judge quickly intervened before things went out of control. "Ms. Morgan, please calm down! I don't want to be forced to order the guards take you out."

Still furious, Morgan took a deep breath and gave a few steps back, her eyes always locked on the witness. Seiji just observed the whole scene.

"As for you, Mrs. Tharja," the judge faced the woman. "what Morgan said is true. Unless you tell us exactly what happened we won't know if that's important or not. You better tell what you were doing to this court NOW."

Witness and attorney continued glaring at each other for a few more moments until the woman sighed in defeat and decided to spill the beans.

"Fine… But it isn't important," she muttered the last part for herself. "I went to Sparkly Eyes."

Silence. What did she say?

"Sparkly Eyes? The toys store in Feather Road, some minutes from Aeternum Village?" Seiji asked raising an eyebrow.

Tharja nodded.

"No offense, but what were you doing there? I mean, of all people you're the last I would expect to go to a toys store." Morgan asked.

"I went there because they had what I wanted to buy," Tharja began explaining. "That store would put a special collector's edition Robin plush to sale at seven forty-five and I wanted to get that for me."

Morgan's and Seiji's jaws dropped.

"A Robin plush?!" they asked in unison.

"Yes, a Robin plush," Tharja confirmed. "I left home earlier to have a better chance to get that for me, but when I arrived the attendant said another girl appeared before asking for the same thing and they didn't have it anymore. That's why I returned home in a bad mood."

The whole court room began commenting about the revelation.

"I can't believe this," Morgan facepalmed. "Tharja, I know father's awesome and all, but sincerely… He's married! And you too! You can't go everywhere after him or anything related to him like a fangirl anymore! What do you think Henry thinks of it?" she pointed to the man in the last line of the court room.

"Ah, I don't care at all!" Henry declared.

Everyone (even the judge) turned to face the man with a weird face.

"You don't care?!" Morgan was incredulous. "How come?! It doesn't bother you to know your wife is completely head over heels for someone else?! Your friend, on top of that?!"

"I don't have to worry," he said with a calm smile. "Tharja may be a bit obsessed with Robin, but I know she wouldn't betray me and neither would your father."

"A bit?" all the Shepherds, save for Noire and Tharja, asked.

"Besides, she's been like that since much before we met, so I can't complain much."

"You can't?" another mutual question.

"And, sincerely, it's a fact Robin has some magical charm that captivates all girls," he giggled. "He was chosen the sexiest male Shepherd by public vote last year, after all."

That little revelation made all the male Shepherds growl slightly jealous.

"Well, that's true… He won the voting and we had many…" Morgan then gave Henry a confused look as she realized something. "Wait, how do you know about the voting? It was public, but only announced in places frequented mostly by women."

"I wanted to buy Noire a present and went to one of these fancy stores where they sell dresses and other woman things," Henry explained. "While there, I saw a poster announcing the voting."

"But how do you know the results?" Morgan proceeded. "It was revealed only in the places where the posters were put."

"I accompanied the voting. I wanted to know if Robin would win."

Awkward silence.

"Why did you want to know if father would win?" Morgan inquired.

"Why do you think?" Henry smiled widely. "I voted on him!"

The court room became a crimson festival of bleeding noses just like the day before, leaving a faint feeling of déjà vu in the air, the only difference being the gender of the people whose noses erupted. The only exceptions to that marvelous scene were Noire, Morgan and Tharja who were, respectively, trying to hide under the table, facepalming in utmost horror and rolling her eyes.

"Hey! Blood everywhere again!" Henry celebrated.

"Lissa?! Even you?!" Lon'qu asked horrified.

"N-no! That's not it!" she desperately tried to explain her current state and control the red river coming from her nose at the same time. "I was… Uh… A bug! A bug entered in my nose and I poked it to take the bug out, but put my finger too deep! Yes! That's it!"

"Ugh… Why did I have to ask?" Morgan lamented.

"That's what I should be asking…" Seiji, faceplanted on his table, grumbled in disgust.

"See? Nothing important," Tharja said nonchalant, despite the red mess the court room became. "Completely unrelated to your molten cauldron."

Hearing that, Henry snapped his fingers as he remembered something.

"Oh, yes! Tharja, I forgot to tell you that I borrowed one of your cauldrons that day you told me to make my experiments outside! I just can't give it back because it exploded."

Morgan immediately snapped out of her horror. What did he say?

"A cauldron? Like this one?" she pointed at the molten cauldron at her side.

"Yes, that's exactly that one!" Henry announced. "How I didn't notice it there?"

"So, it was you…" Tharja growled in irritation.

"Aw… Don't be so mad. I'll buy a new one for you as birthday present. A bigger one!"

"This exact one? Which means…" Morgan widened her eyes. "Were you near the Demon's Bed in the night Nikolai died?"

"Yup. I went there to make my experiments, far away from home like Tharja ordered," Henry said proudly.

The court room became a noisy mess.

"Order in the court!" the judge beat his hammer until everyone quieted down. "Mr. Henry, you admit to be the person responsible for the explosion Morgan cited?"

"I don't know about that explosion, because I was out of the room when the trial began and only returned a bit ago, but if it's the explosion I caused near the inn during the night when the crime happened, yes, it's me."

People began commenting Henry's revelation, who kept his usual easygoing smile despite the nature of the situation. Morgan remained in place, mouth slightly open and frozen by confusion, trying to process what she heard. Noticing how ridiculous she looked, the attorney shook her head, turned to the judge and asked:

"The defense would like to change its witness."

The judge (also a bit stunned by all revelations) quickly recovered his stoic expression.

"Before that, the prosecution can make the cross-examination."

"Your Honor, with all respect," Seiji muttered, still faceplanted on the table. "I'm still trying to digest everything we heard and failing miserably, so I'm not in the best condition to run the cross-examination right now."

"Oh. Uh… If you say so…" taken aback, the judge turned to face Morgan. "I allow you to change your witness, Ms. Morgan."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Morgan then pointed at Henry. "The defense summons Henry to the witness seat."

"I'm coming!" the Sorcerer happily got up and marched to the witness seat, Noire accompanying him with worried eyes. Tharja got up and returned to her place, but not without giving a quick punch on her husband's arm as they crossed ways.

Henry sat on the seat in the middle of the room, found a comfortable position and rested his hands over his legs like a good student in his first school day.

"Tell me, Henry, were you responsible for the explosion near the Demon's Bed?" Morgan began.

"If it's the same from this cauldron, yes," he calmly answered.

"What were you doing before the explosion?"

"I was trying to make a curse that would allow me to see the same things Robin can. You know, those 'stats' nobody else can see aside from him and you."

"That's… Very useful, to say the truth," Morgan admitted tapping a finger on her chin. "And after the explosion? What were you doing?"

"I was flying."

…

"Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Morgan became very confused.

"I was flying," Henry repeated.

Many people began wondering if the witness was joking or had a mental problem.

"Flying?" Morgan asked again just to make sure she heard it right.

"Yes, I was flying super high, in an altitude that could kill me if I suddenly fell," despite his unconcerned tone, the simple mention of him dying made Noire panic inwardly. "Like in that music!"

"Which music?" the Proxy asked.

"The one that says 'I believe I can die'!"

"It's 'I believe I can fly'."

"Nope. I'm sure it's 'I believe I can die'." Henry insisted.

"Of course it is…" Morgan thought it wouldn't be worth the effort and decided to proceed. "Could you please tell us what happened that day and how?"

"Sure!" Henry said lively.

 **Witness Testimony**

"It was a regular day. I made some curses, collected some ingredients, hexed a person or two… Nothing special."

"They were made for each other…" Morgan rolled her eyes.

"I spent the morning with Noire doing some chores and small talk. After lunch, she left home to go out with her boyfriend."

"EVEN YOU FATHER?!" Noire yelled from the back of the room, her face red as a tomato. "HE ISN'T MY BOYFRIEND!"

"No? Awww… I was expecting to have grandchildren sometime soon."

Both Ricken and Laurent fell from their chairs.

"H-Henry, even if they were dating, don't you think it would be a bit too early for them to have children?!" Ricken asked getting up.

"See, Noire? Everyone knows it," Tharja bluntly said. "What's the point of denying it anymore?"

"But he isn't…! Ah, forget it…" Noire sighed.

"Continuing!" Henry resumed. "After she left, it was only me and Tharja. I talked with her about my experiments and how my maggots' growth project had improved, but she wasn't in the mood for talk and told me to find something else to do. So, I tried to summon some Risen, but failed every time."

"Why on Earth were you trying to summon a Risen?" Seiji suddenly asked.

"Hey! I was going to make that question!" Morgan complained.

"Why not? Imagine that: an army of undead that never need to eat, sleep or rest under our control! We wouldn't need to send people to wars anymore and could avoid countless deaths!"

" _Using the dead to avoid deaths? Interesting…"_ Morgan took a pen and quickly wrote her thought on a blank paper she had with her documents before she forgot it.

"Unfortunately, my experiments didn't go like planned and I caused two explosions in the kitchen. Tharja got angry and ordered me to continue whatever I was doing somewhere far away from home. I obeyed, but before I left home I borrowed one of her cauldrons."

"Why?" Seiji inquired.

"I ran out of usable cauldrons. My experiments are very dangerous, you know? Nyahaha!"

"Uh… Sure… Please, continue," the prosecutor decided not to go much deeper in that subject.

"To make sure I would do it somewhere she wouldn't get angry at me, I went near that place called the Demon's Bed. It's very far away from home and most people who frequent that place wouldn't mind if I messed something outside."

"Most of them didn't even know you were there…" Morgan deadpanned.

"At that time, I changed my mind and decided to make a curse that would allow me to see the same things Robin can, so I went to Ylisse Castle get some ingredients before I went to Demon's Bed. It was already dark when I was nearly finishing the curse and everything was going exactly like expected, but after a few moments… KABOOM! Everything exploded and I was sent flying high in the sky!"

Morgan widened her eyes in surprise. Henry was sent flying after the cauldron exploded? Near the Demon's Bed? In the same night Nikolai died? But that meant…

He was the third unidentified flying creature!

"It was awesome!" Henry continued enthusiastically. "The breeze… The starry sky… Just a shame it was too dark and I couldn't see the castle."

"YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" Noire screamed.

"But I didn't."

"BUT YOU COULD!" tears rolled down Noire's eyes. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT?!"

"Aw, dear… I'm sorry," Henry gave her an apologetical smile. "I didn't want you to worry about that. Daddy has gone through much worse and always survived!"

"MUCH WORSE?!" Noire's jaw dropped. "LIKE WHAT?!"

"Discuss that later! Testimony now!" Morgan interrupted.

"Oh, sure," Henry nodded. "I was flying in the night sky headed for… I'm not sure where, but I was going somewhere, nyahaha! Everything was fine and the stars were beautiful. Suddenly, a crazy thing happened!"

"What?" Morgan and Seiji asked in unison.

"I hit something! I don't know what, but it made me fall straight down to the ground!" that made Noire nearly lose her composure again. "To my luck, I was over a forest and a branch stopped my fall. It was so crazy and sudden I couldn't help but laugh about that!"

"THAT WASN'T A REASON TO BE LAUGHING, YOU INSOLENT!" Noire yelled in her maniacal self.

"I didn't get too hurt, just a few bruises and some scratches, but I got worried about whatever I hit, so I climbed up the tree a bit more to look for it."

"Did you see something?" Morgan asked.

"Unfortunately, no. It was too dark and I couldn't see much, but I noticed something taking flight from somewhere in the woods, many meters away from where I fell. For a moment, I believed it was what I hit, but the creature was too far and I'm not big or heavy enough to have pushed it such a distance."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. Something taking flight from the wood? Could it be…?

"Since I couldn't find what I hit and wasn't too hurt, I got back to the ground and headed home. I arrived very late, so Tharja and Noire were already asleep."

…

"Is that all?" the attorney inquired.

"Yup!" Henry answered.

"Very well," the judge nodded. "In this case, let's begin the examination."

 **Direct Examination**

"Henry, you said that something took flight from somewhere in the wood, right?" Morgan asked.

The Sorcerer nodded.

"Like you said, it was very dark, so I don't think you could see what it was," she proceeded. "but if you had to guess, what would you say it was?"

Henry rubbed his chin for a few moments, replaying the scene in his mind many times. After a bit more of thought, he spoke his guess:

"By the format of the creature and how it was flying, I would say it was a wyvern or something like that."

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked. Henry answered with a nod.

" _A wyvern? Didn't Maggot and Tick say there was a wyvern living in Ever Woods?"_ the Proxy's mind was filled with theories and possibilities, but she quickly put everything aside and concentrated on the questioning at hand.

"Would you know from which place of the wood it went out?" she continued, trying to find something to sustain or disprove her ideas.

"I don't know the exact place, but it was to the north," Henry said.

"HOLD IT!" Seiji suddenly spoke up. "How do you know it was to the north? If it was too dark to see the creature, then it was too dark to see any point of indication like buildings or anything like that."

"You're right. We only have one quarter of the moon until next week, which means it's very dark at night," Henry agreed. "I only know it was to the north because I noticed Aeternum Village behind me."

"Aeternum Village?" Seiji asked.

"Yes, the village is to the south of Ever Woods and is the only one nearby."

That information was interesting; Morgan didn't know the precise location of the second clearing, but she knew where the one Lucina and Nikolai were found was. If the second clearing was the same where Henry fell and it was south of where the creature appeared and north of Aeternum Village, there was chance the creature went from the same clearing where the crime happened.

Not only that; Henry said it was something alike to a wyvern and, per Maggot and Tick, the marks left in the clearing were likely made by one or something of that nature. Everything considered, it looked like the wyvern was in the clearing, made the cuts in the trees and left, being sighted by Cynthia and Gerome while it flied away. Lucina probably heard when the wyvern scratched the trees and arrived there a bit after it left and before she was attacked.

Although the wyvern was clearly becoming irrelevant for the case, it at least explained some of the weird events of that night. At the same time, it rose some questions:

Why the wyvern was doing something so unlikely for its species like scratching trees?

Who would stay near a wild wyvern attacking trees in the middle of the night?

Why that person would attack Lucina?

And how Nikolai ended there?

"Hey, I remembered something!" Henry suddenly interrupted Morgan's thoughts.

"Uh? Really?" the girl was still returning to reality. "What?"

"When I fell on the tree, I heard something running very fast and glass breaking."

"Something running?" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I don't know," Henry said raising his shoulders. "I couldn't see it, but by the sound it made while it ran away, I guess it was a wolf."

" _Wolf?"_ the Proxy mused thoughtful. _"The Elite Trio found marks of a weird animal near Ever Woods going straight to the forest. It had some characteristics compatible with a wolf. Could it be the same thing?"_

Unsure, Morgan replayed everything she heard since the first day of Lucina's judgment in her mind, carefully searching a fact or statement that could connect the two things. Although she had no success with that, it made her realize another little detail she had just overlooked.

" _Wait a second… Did he say '_ _ **glass breaking**_ _'?_ she felt her forehead getting soaked in sweat. _"Oh, no… Don't tell me…"_

A bit reluctant, Morgan forced herself to ask:

"Henry, that thing you hit… Do you have any idea of what it could be?"

"I have no idea!" he declared smirking. "But it was very big and muscular like a Pegasus, although I felt something cold like steel and another thing smooth and silky like hair."

Morgan facepalmed; that was exactly what she feared to hear. Around the room, people began having the most varied reactions, ranging from gasps of surprise, sighs of annoyance, facepalms and one or two confused stares. The best of them was, without a doubt, Sumia, whose eyes were wide open in utmost shock.

"Oh! And it kept saying something like 'help, help, help' nonstop!" Henry added, which made even more people sigh or facepalm. "I wonder what kind of animal was that. Maybe a new species of Pegasus or Griffon?"

"IT WASN'T AN ANIMAL!" Sumia suddenly spoke loudly, getting up from her seat.

"Do you know what was it? Then tell me! I'm dying of curiosity to know what was that creature!" Henry asked excited.

"IT WAS ME!" the queen yelled in a mix of incredulity and embarrassment.

"Sumia! Was it you?" Henry smiled widely. "What a coincidence! A few months ago, we were swapping bodies so you could use magic and I could fly, then, when I manage to fly by myself, I end up running into you! Isn't it funny? Nyahaha!"

"No! It isn't funny!" Sumia's face was a deep shade of red. "You nearly scared me to death! And made me lose my jam pots!"

"Aw… Don't be sad! I'll buy new ones for you!" Henry tried to cheer Sumia up, which clearly didn't work by the way her face was still flushed.

"Hold on…" Chrom gave his wife an incredulous look. "You and Henry were swapping bodies?!"

"We stopped doing that a long time ago! I swear!" Sumia's face became even redder.

"Don't worry, Chrom," Henry intruded the conversation. "I ensure you that we never kissed, held hands or slept together. Neither Sumia and me or you and me."

"HENRY, SHUT UP!" now it was Chrom's face that got red.

The whole court room became a festival of noises. The judge tried in vain to restore order, his authoritarian voice swallowed by all people speaking at the same time. Morgan sat, leaned her back on the chair and sighed turning her face down. At her side, Lucina remained speechless, mouth slightly open and a shocked expression on her face.

"It hasn't been one week since father left yet and this army's already falling down…" the Proxy complained lowly.

"Morgan… What did I do to deserve this?" Lucina asked, still in shock.

With another sigh, Morgan simply answered:

"Unless you have killed the merchant, I sincerely don't know."

In the prosecution's table, Seiji observed the whole scene, unsure of how he should react to that.

" _Now I understand why Morgan's like that…"_ the young prosecutor thought. _"You MUST be crazy to survive this kind of thing every day…"_

Amidst the chaos, one peculiar person in the audience couldn't help but give a low sarcastic laugh at the gigantic mess the trial became.

" _Oh, dear… You would love to see this,"_ he evilly thought with a wide smirk. _"This is not what I planned. This is much better."_

 **To be continued…**

 _So many things happening at the same time… Did it get too confusing? I don't know, maybe I exaggerated a bit with all these side stories and small hints… What do you think?_

 _Oh! And I also noticed that I made some minor mistakes in the previous chapters aside from my dialogue punctuation, so I may try to fix it sometime soon. It's nothing big or very relevant, though, so you don't have to read EVERYTHING again._

 _In any case, I hope this chapter was worth your time and that you all enjoyed it!_

 _Also, before anyone asks:_

 _No, I don't support M!RobinxHenry, that was just a stupid joke I made to bring the wackiness back. This is a crazy comedy, after all, so…_

 _Well, enough of me speaking nonsense! You already had your nearly lethal dose of weirdness today!_

 _See you later!_


	9. A Troubling Rare Gem

_This chapter may taste a bit different because we spiced things a bit in the ending by adding some… Sour conflicts, I would say._

…

 _And some wasabi as well._

 _Why am I speaking so much about food? I dunno, probably because I'm a bit hungry right now…_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Fire Emblem and everything related to it are intellectual property of Nintendo. Anything from other franchises belong to their respective creators. I only own Morgan Ace Attorney and the characters created for it. I also own some other stuff, but let's leave that for later…_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 9: A Troubling Rare Gem**

 **Outside the court room, Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 6:06 PM**

Thanks to Henry's crazy revelations, the court room became a giant mess of voices. Apparently, commenting the incident involving the Sorcerer and the queen was more important than letting the trial to continue, which forced the judge to make a small pause until everyone calmed down.

That small pause didn't mean the Shepherds would stop commenting about the accident, though. Whispers, laughs, giggles and some quick stares at Sumia and Henry were everywhere among the group. The white-haired Sorcerer seemed completely fine with the situation and would happily talk about what happened in the night when he was sent 'flying' or he and the queen swapping bodies. Sumia, on other hand, remained completely quiet at Lucina's side, her face a deep shade of red.

Talking about Lucina, she wasn't expecting a break so soon, but it was more than welcome; it would give her time to get mentally prepared for whatever was coming and to digest all the information revealed just a few minutes ago.

And, just between you and me: she would need to get as mentally prepared as possible; Seiji had something very special prepared for her and he was anxious to show it.

 **Near the restrooms, Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 6:07 PM**

Just a bit after Morgan left the court room, Maggot appeared and said he had to speak with her. The two decided to talk in the same place as before for precaution and went straight to the restrooms.

Arriving there, Morgan noticed that Tick and Flea were also waiting for them.

"Very well," Morgan began, adjusting her coat. "What do you have for me?"

Flea scratched the back of his head.

"We have… Two good and two bad things to tell you," he declared shyly.

"Here comes the bomb…" Morgan lamented. "Please, start with something good. I'm already having too much headache today."

"Well…" the short boy cleared his throat. "The first good thing is that I finished fixing the DNA testing machine and have already made three tests with the fur we found."

"Woohoo!" the Proxy celebrated, but quickly realized something. "Wait… Three tests? How did you do that already? That would need like… More than two hours, right?"

"Yes, it would," Maggot entered the conversation. "but Flea didn't tell us that he found a way to get the pieces from the customs much before than expected. Thanks to that, he finished the machine and made the tests earlier than planned."

"Before?" the girl raised an eyebrow. "How did you do that?" she faced the boy. "And why didn't you tell them before?"

Flea blushed and avoided eye contact.

"I had to resort to unconventional methods," he said weakly.

"Like…?" Morgan invited him to continue.

"I made a deal."

"Which kind of deal?"

"Nothing important…" Flea muttered.

"One of the girls that works in the customs is very needy and took a liking to Shorty, so he promised her a 'wild night' if she found a way to speed up the process," Tick bluntly revealed.

Flea glared furiously at the young man, his face burning with embarrassment and ire.

"I SHOULD CUT YOUR TONGUE OFF WITH A BLUNT KNIFE, YOU BIG MOUTHED PIECE OF SHIT!"

Despite the terrifying tone used and the punch Flea gave on his arm, Tick laughed lowly at the boy's reaction.

"Oooooh… Not so innocent as you look, I see," Morgan said giving the boy a teasing smile.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Flea desperately tried to fix the mess his colleague made. "I didn't promise to do… To do… THAT with her! It's just a dinner! Nothing more than that!"

"Dinner isn't a problem, but you also promised to take her to drink after that," Maggot commented. "Alcohol can be very dangerous, especially for youngsters overflowing with hormones like you two."

"SHUT UP YOU TOO, OLD MAN!" Flea yelled furiously at the man.

"Can I be your godfather?" Tick asked poking the boy's shoulder.

"IN ANY CASE!" Flea screamed, trying to get back to the main subject. "I fixed the machine and made the tests."

"That's excellent," Morgan giggled, still thinking about the boy's 'deal'. "But why make three? One wasn't enough?"

The three members of the Elite Trio shared a worried look.

"That's the first bad thing I must tell," Flea rubbed his cheek sheepishly. "The samples for the examination were probably contaminated."

Morgan's eyes widened in surprise.

"Son of a Grima!" she cursed. "Wait… Contaminated? What do you mean?"

"The results are weird," Maggot decided to explain. "We're detecting human genetic material in the fur."

"Human genetic material?" Morgan asked.

"We don't know why," Tick began. "It's probably because we touched the fur without gloves since we didn't have any with us when we found it. We can purify the material to get only the fur's genetic material, but it'll take some time."

"Oh, no… How much?" the Proxy forced herself to ask.

"Twenty minutes or so," Flea told.

"Huh? Only that?" the information surprised her for a moment. "That's much faster than I expected." Morgan scratched the back of her head. "Well, what are the other good and bad things?"

"The second good thing is that the money you gave us was enough to pay for the roof of the court room and to buy the Nintendo Switch you asked for," Flea said.

"Hooray!" Morgan celebrated.

"The second bad thing is that we had some bureaucratic problems with your Nintendo Switch and it'll be stuck in the customs for the next four days," Tick told.

"Nagafucker!" Morgan cursed the Ylissean system of importation and exportation.

"So…" Tick scratched his chin. "Something else, boss?"

After cursing a few more times, Morgan took a deep breath and calmed down.

"No, you already did everything you could. You three are dismi… Actually…" she gave them a curious look. "There's something I've been wanting to ask for a while: what exactly happened to everyone during the investigation?"

Flea looked confused at his boss, unaware of what she was talking about. Tick pretended to know nothing and turned his gaze away. Maggot looked around a few times to make sure no one was nearby and, after making sure the coast was clear, went to tell:

"Your friends had some… Problems, madam," he began awkwardly. "Do you remember the old wyvern Mr. Walhart and Mr. Yen'fay commented? Well, Ms. Severa and Mr. Inigo met him in person."

"Or in scales, in a way," Tick commented.

"Ms. Severa refused to tell me what exactly happened, but it seems they enraged him and he began chasing them in the woods. They managed to escape from him for some time, but the wyvern found them again and restarted the chase until they tripped and fell inside a lake."

"A lake?" Morgan became confused. "Which lake? There's no lake inside Ever Woods or near it."

"Ah… I called it a lake because I'm not sure on how to call it," Maggot admitted. "To be more precise, it was a big body of stained water full of mud and some dead animals. With one or two leeches."

"Leeches the size of a dog," Tick added.

"Yuck…" the girl trembled at the thought.

"Mr. Walhart and Mr. Yen'fay were questioning some people at the main square of Aeternum Village when they found a suspicious tavern. In there, some women were having a private party and promised to share information with them, but only if Yen'fay was the one questioning; Mr. Walhart had to wait outside, away from them. After making some questions, Mr. Yen'fay was going to leave and return to their duty, but the women were… Unwilling to let him go."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked curiously.

Then, she remembered how Yen'fay looked when he and the others met in front of Ylisse Castle and immediately connected the dots.

"Ooooooh… I see…" the girl rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "And why didn't Walhart help him?"

"I'm sure he would," Maggot said. "Unfortunately, while he was waiting outside, a cart full of meat had an accident and dropped everything on him. Mr. Walhart tried to escape the… 'Meaty' mess, but was overpowered and fell unconscious."

"I know he's a very devoted vegetarian, but I never thought the great Conqueror could be defeated by some meat," Morgan commented, not sure on how to react to that.

"On his defense," Tick intervened. "the 'adversary' was formidable. It wasn't just regular meat; there were kidneys, stomachs, livers, intestines, brains, lungs, eyes, tongues and even…" he rubbed his cheek. "Testicles."

"Ewwwww…" Morgan retorted her face in disgust. "Just thinking about it made my stomach turn upside down…"

"As for Mr. Gangrel and Mrs. Emmeryn," Maggot continued. "after they finished questioning the woman, he wanted to leave as soon as possible, but Mrs. Emmeryn wanted to stay a bit more. They argued and Gangrel tried to pull her out of the inn by grabbing her sleeve, but the fabric of her clothes is very delicate and… Well…"

Morgan smiled mischievously.

"Did he see some skin? Did he? Something? Anything? How did he react?"

"I'm not sure, because he refused to talk about the subject," Maggot told, making Morgan a bit disappointed. "But the people in the inn thought he was trying to molest Mrs. Emmeryn and went to spank him."

"Oh, so that explains why he was so bruised," the girl mused. "And Emmeryn didn't do anything?"

"She tried to explain it was just an accident," Tick told. "No one heard her, though. Neither the waitress that gave her the coat she was wearing."

"Well, that DOES explain everything…" Morgan commented, unsure on how to react to what she just heard.

At first, she was very surprised that her friends did such a great job in so few time without killing themselves, but now she was much more surprised than before. Not so much because of what they went through; more because she couldn't understand how they went through all that without killing themselves out of embarrassment later.

Although it could be a good idea to check on them later…

RIIIIIIIIING

The loud sound of a bell echoed through the halls.

"Oh, gods! The trial is restarting!" Morgan turned on her heels and ran back to the court room. "I have to go! If you discover something, text me!" she yelled to the Elite Trio, who nodded and disappeared in a darkish cloud.

As everyone slowly returned to the court room, Morgan dashed among the mess of people, trying to return to her seat as fast as possible. She was so distracted dodging the members of the audience and some of the Shepherds that she didn't notice the figure who watched her and the others entering, a wide smile in his face.

" _You better get ready, young Proxy,"_ he mentally laughed. _"The prosecutor has a little surprise for the menu and it is a very indigestible one."_

 **Court room, Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 6:23 PM**

With the subject of Henry and Sumia being old story there was no reason to whisper or gossip anymore, which made the audience wait silently for the judge, who was organizing some papers, resume the trial.

However, despite the audience being in total silence, it was possible to hear what sounded like two people bitterly arguing something. Most couldn't see from where it was coming and kept asking themselves what was the source of that sound.

Who was sitting in the first three rows, though, had the 'pleasure' to see from where the angry voices were unexpectedly coming: the defense table.

"You said that you believed in me!" Lucina whispered indignant and angry at Morgan.

"Guess what? I lied!" Morgan shot back equally irritated.

"What?!" the princess gasped incredulous. "Why did you do that?!"

"You did the same thing! That gives the right to do the same!" her attorney retorted.

"Don't come with that story of 'you did that and it gives me the right to do the same'! That's the kind of horrible thing your mother always says!" Lucina argued. "And I'm not lying!"

"First: you better think twice before saying anything about my mother or I'll twist your tongue!" of course Morgan would never do that to Lucina, but the princess didn't know it, so it could be used as a harmless threat. "Second: you're lying and I know it! All the facts say it! Stop denying!"

"I'm not lying!" Lucina insisted.

Morgan sighed and facepalmed.

"Lucina, I didn't want to say this like that, but you leave me no other choice," she glared deeply in the princess's eyes. "Seiji knows it. He knows you lied. He knows you are hiding something and will show that to everyone. If you don't tell the truth before it's too late, then we'll lose the case and you'll be arrested for Nikolai's death AND for forging a false testimony!"

"But I didn't kill him!" Lucina said exasperated. "I can't be arrested for that! I didn't do that! I didn't kill Nikolai Loss!"

"Then show that to everyone! Show them that you have nothing to hide and make Seiji fall on his face or it's game over!"

…

"Are you going to tell the truth?"

Lucina turned her face away and said emotionless:

"I told the truth."

"By the love of…!" Morgan put both hands on her face and hit her head on the table.

Despite arguing bitterly for the last three minutes, Morgan and Lucina were careful enough to talk in a volume anyone who wasn't at their side (which in the moment was no one) could hear, making all the Shepherds behind them get worried.

Chrom and Sumia were, without a doubt, the most worried of them; they were sitting immediately behind the two girls and heard how their daughter and her attorney were angrily talking. Unable to stay still doing nothing anymore, Sumia gently approached the two and asked:

"Girls, is everything okay?"

Both girls grumbled. Lucina looked away and Morgan returned to her original position.

"Yes, everything's fine," they said in (another) irritated unison.

"No, everything isn't fine," the queen shook her head negatively. "There's something happening and I want to know what."

Lucina and Morgan grumbled again.

"You don't want to know," the princess said.

"You wouldn't believe anyways," the Proxy said.

Sumia and Chrom exchanged worried looks. What was happening between these two?

"Well, now that everyone has calmed down, we can resume the trial," the judge announced with his stoic expression and serious voice. "Since the defense got the right to begin, now's the prosecution's turn."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Seiji got up and smiled widely. "I can't wait to start."

Morgan loudly gulped. It was going to happen. She had no idea of what it was or how bad it would be, but it would happen.

"Last chance," she whispered to Lucina. "If I was you, I would do it now!"

The princess hissed.

" _Then have a good rest of life in jail,"_ Morgan angrily thought.

Seiji walked to the middle of the room, put his hands on his back and smiled at the audience.

"Like I said before, my investigations were very fruitful. I discovered many details that were extremely useful for my cause," he proudly began. "Thanks to my discoveries, I could answer some of my questions and…" he gave Lucina a menacing look. "Confirm some of my suspicions."

The princess felt a chill running down her spine.

"For example, I confirmed my suspicions that…" he pointed an accusing finger at Lucina. "The defendant has lied in her testimony!"

The audience exploded in noise. The part that wasn't made of Shepherds began commenting nonstop about the prosecutor's statement, while the part that was protested furiously.

"Order in the court!" the judge beat his hammer many times until everyone calmed down. "Mr. Seiji, your accusation is a very serious one. Do you have any proof for that?"

"Not only one, Your Honor," he smiled triumphantly at the judge. "I have MANY."

He then turned to face the audience.

"During my investigation, I discovered that the clock tower in Aeternum Village has been showing the wrong time since before the first night of the festival, when the crime happened."

Whispers everywhere. Morgan felt sweat running down her face and pulled the collar of her shirt.

"What exactly it has to do with anything?" the judge asked a bit confused.

"How did Lucina know the time she arrived at the festival?" Seiji asked to no one in specific. "By looking at the clock tower. And what it can mean?"

"OBJECTION!" Morgan decided to speak up. "You can't simply say that Lucina lied in her testimony because the clock was wrong! It proves nothing, just that she didn't arrive at the time she thinks she did, which could be nothing more than a mere accident."

"Oh, I think YOU know that's not the truth, don't you, Morgan?" Seiji smiled menacingly at her, making Morgan wonder what he meant.

"Mr. Seiji, where are you trying to get?" the judge asked serious. "Ms. Morgan is right, you can't simply assume the defendant has lied because of that fact alone, as even I fail to see any substantial connection between it and your accusation."

Seiji adjusted his bangs.

"The fact alone indeed proves nothing," he said. "It's this fact AND my witness's testimony that create the connection. Someone who Morgan knows, by the way."

" _His witness?"_ Morgan asked in her head. _"Who could it… Wait… Someone who can make the clock tower become evidence against Lucina and I know?"_ as realization hit her, Morgan felt all her body trembling with nervousness. _"Oh, no… It's her!"_

"Lucina! Tell the truth! Now!" she desperately whispered to her client.

The princess turned her face away.

"Lucina! Do it! Now!" she ordered.

"I already did!" Lucina angrily shot back.

"No! You didn't!" Morgan retorted. "Do it! Before it's too late!"

"What are you talking about?"

"His witness! It's…"

"Now, with that said," Seiji turned to the judge and interrupted Morgan before she could finish her sentence." I would like to summon my witness."

The judge groomed his beard a few times and nodded.

"Very well, in this case, I summon…" he pointed dramatically at the door in the back of the room. "Sapphire Harts Gem to the witness seat!"

Morgan cringed in her chair and Lucina gasped loudly. Both girls knew that if there was someone who could prove that the princess was lying it was, without a doubt, the little girl of the festival.

…

That is, if she appeared.

"I said Sapphire Harts Gem!" Seiji announced again.

…

"Sapphire Harts Gem!" he said louder.

…

"SAPPHIRE HARTS GEM!" he yelled a bit irritated.

Everyone began looking at the door with confused looks.

"What the…?" Seiji was at a loss of words.

One of the guards left his position at the judge's side, went to the door, opened it, looked to the right, looked to the left, turned around, raised his shoulders and said:

"There's no one here."

"What do you mean there's no one there?!" Seiji asked incredulous. "Where's my witness?!"

"How am I supposed to know?" the guard declared before hearing something in the hall.

He took a quick look outside the room and seemed a bit surprised at the sight.

"Wait! There's someone coming!" he opened the door a bit more.

Just a few seconds after that, a panting man, who Morgan immediately recognized as Mark, Sapphire's father, appeared at the door.

"Sorry for this," he apologized, drying some sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand. "It took us a while to find her."

"Find her? Did she get lost?" Seiji asked intrigued.

"Uh… Not exactly," Mark said awkwardly while entering the room.

Immediately after that, Caroline entered the room holding the hand of a five years old girl who kept pointing everywhere and speaking in an unbelievable speed.

"Wow! Look at all this! It's so cool! This place is so big! Can we come here again? Just to visit! I don't want to come back because I committed a crime! I don't want to commit a crime! Nobody does! Only bandits and it's because they're stupid! That's why we kick their butts! Wow! Look at all these people here! Hello everyone! Why are you here? Did you commit crimes? Are you stupid? Do you want to play house? I can be the mother and you can be the babies! Oh! I know! Let's play hide and seek! I just need a table! Oh! I know! Let's play Super Mario 3D World! I have Rosalina! Do you know who's Rosalina? Hey! There's a nice hole in the roof there!"

Everyone (except for Morgan, Lucina and Seiji, who already knew her) looked dumb folded at the small girl being conducted to the witness seat.

"This place is so cool! Look at all this! Hey! What a nice chair! Can we have a chair like that mommy?" Sapphire asked her mother.

"I'll think, dear," Caroline said, trying to keep hold on her daughter's hand.

"Hey, look! It's Morgan! Hi, Morgan!" she waved her hand enthusiastically at the girl.

"Hello, sweetie! How are you?" Morgan happily waved back.

"Hey, look! It's Miss Lady Guy! Hi, Miss Lady Guy!" Sapphire then waved to Lucina.

"Ugh… Hi…" the princess sourly waved back, irritated for being called by that nickname (which she didn't know why she got, by the way) again.

All the Shepherds stared confused at each other. Miss Lady Guy? What did it mean?

"Hey, look! It's Grumpy Boy! Hi, Grumpy Boy!" Sapphire then waved at Seiji.

"Can you please not call me that?!" Seiji asked indignant.

"No!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Morgan put a hand over her mouth to control her laughter. "I'm sorry… I couldn't hold it…"

"You little piece of sh…" Grumpy Boy… I mean… Seiji had to use all his self-control to keep the rest of the sentence only for himself instead of throwing it at his rival.

Caroline and Mark conducted their daughter to the witness seat and told her to sit on the chair. Sapphire examined the chair from bottom to top many times before finally putting her small rear on the cushioned wood and begin motioning her legs up and down nonstop.

"Very well," having recovered some of his composure, Seiji turned again to the audience. "This little girl is…"

"I'm Sapphire! Pleased to meet you!" she cut the prosecutor. "I like cookies, videogames, explosions, bear meat, toys, wyverns, dragons, Risen, hippos, rainbows and lots of other stuff that aren't worth mentioning now like flying intestines!"

"Hey! I like that girl already!" Henry loudly announced from the back of the room.

"Uh… Right…" Seiji grumbled. "She was with…"

"I was with Miss Lady Guy in the festival! We had a LOT of fun! I showed her the games, the food, the things to do and then I played all night nonstop until I got tired and slept like a big fat pig!"

"Yes… Thank you…" the prosecutor's eye twitched. "Thanks to some information she and her parents gave me, I was able to…"

"Discover Miss Lady Guy was lying!" she then glared at Lucina. "You shouldn't lie! That's an ugly thing to do! If you lie, the Monster of One Thousand Stomachs will come to get you at night and force you to eat cabbage! I hate cabbage! Cabbage is stinky!"

"CAN I PLEASE FINISH ONE SENTENCE?!" Seiji turned to Sapphire with desperate eyes.

"Sapphire, let Mr. Seiji speak!" the girl's father scolded. "It's also an ugly thing to interrupt people when they're speaking!"

"I'm sorry! I don't do it for evil! I don't know when to stop! There're lots of things I don't know! Where we came from? What is the meaning of life? Do aliens exist? What does the fox say?"

Seiji sighed.

"In any case…" he decided to proceed. "Like I was saying…"

"Hey! Look! My tooth fell!" Sapphire proudly showed everyone the milk-tooth in her hand.

"You know what?" Seiji felt an urge to cry. "I'll stop this and go straight to…"

"Fly, super tooth! Fly!" the girl moved her tooth around like it was flying.

"Forget it."

 **Witness Testimony**

"Sapphire, my little friend…" Seiji approached the girl. "Could you tell everything since the beginning?"

"Sure!" Sapphire happily declared, pocketed her tooth and began narrating her story.

"In the beginning, there was nothing! Then, a great explosion happened and scattered matter and energy across the universe!"

"No! The other story!"

"Oh! I know!" she smiled widely. "After Earth was made, the gods looked at it and said: let's make the ground! And the ground was made!"

"No! The OTHER story!"

"Oh! I know!" her smile became wider. "It all began with Morgan making the most perfect bear meat sandwich! Then, the ugly man with blue hair…"

"NOT THIS STORY! THE ONE YOU TOLD ME IN YOUR HOUSE!" Seiji desperately screamed.

"Oh! That one!"

The prosecutor sighed relieved.

"That story is boring! Instead, I'll tell you the story of the magical Pegasus that saved the land of rainbows!"

The prosecutor felt the urge to cry coming back.

Meanwhile, the rest of the court room watched astonished the scene before them, unable to believe what they were seeing with the sole exception of Morgan, who was trying to control her laughter at all costs.

"Please… The story you told me…" Seiji had to hold a tear that threatened to fall. "That's all I'm asking…"

…

"Ok! But only because you were very educated!" Sapphire announced, which made the prosecutor feel in heaven.

"In the day I met Miss Lady Guy, I was playing near the castle with teddy bear when he decided to swim in the well, but he forgot he can't swim because he's stupid and began to drown! I called for help and Miss Lady Guy…"

"Lucina! Call me Lucina!" the princess complained.

"Miss Lady Guy came to rescue teddy bear! I was so happy that I called her for the festival of my village! I returned home, played a lot and when it was time to go I went with mommy because daddy hurt his…"

"Thigh! I hurt my thigh!" Mark quickly intervened before his daughter had the chance to say anything embarrassing.

"We went to the festival and I met Miss Lady Guy there! I showed her the games, the food and everything else! Then, I returned to mommy and played the rest of the night until we had to go back home! I ate a lot of cookies and had sweet dreams about dragons flying in the sky with lots of toys!"

"Hey! I liked that!" Nowi happily said.

…

"That was… A lot faster than the first time I heard it…" Seiji said nervously.

"That's just your impression," Mark declared. "It was the same time."

"Well, if you are saying…" the prosecutor rubbed the back of his head. "Then I think the testimony is over. May I begin my direct examination?" he looked at the judge, who nodded.

 **Direct Examination**

"Sapphire, per what you said, you left your home and went straight to the festival, right?" Seiji began.

"Yes!"

"And when you arrived, Lucina was already there, right?"

"Yup!"

He smiled widely.

"Mrs. Caroline, would you kindly tell us at which time you left your house with Sapphire?"

Caroline's face turned into a conflicted expression. She was there to help her daughter give her testimony to Seiji, but she also knew it would trouble Lucina and, consequently, make Morgan's job harder. She didn't want to lie, but also didn't want to be a nuisance to the Grandmaster's daughter.

Gathering courage, Caroline forced herself to look at the girl in the defense table, expecting a glare or mean look, but, much to her surprise, Morgan gave her a reassuring smile and a nod.

" _I'm sorry…"_ she apologetically thought, a sad expression in her face.

"We left home at seven fifty-two," Caroline revealed. "It takes less than three minutes from our house to the main square, where the festival was happening, so we arrived there at seven fifty-five at most."

"Exactly, seven fifty-five AT MOST," Seiji turned to face the audience. "Which is ten minutes EARLIER than the time Lucina claims to have arrived."

Whispers everywhere.

"And, like Sapphire has just said, Lucina was…"

"Already there! Yes, she was! Can you believe that? She must be super-fast!" Sapphire interrupted again, making Seiji grumble.

"Yes… She must be super-fast… Or a SUPER-LIAR," he accused.

The Shepherds began to angrily protest again.

"Order! Order! I'll have order!" the judge beat his hammer many times. "Mr. Seiji, could you please explain how that fact makes the defendant a liar?"

"Of course, Your Honor," the prosecutor said with confidence. "It would be a pleasure."

Lucina felt a fist hitting her arm.

"Lucina… Do it now!" Morgan whispered desperate.

Once again, the princess turned her face away, but not with a scowl or an annoyed expression like before; this time, it looked like she was having some sort of internal struggle.

"My witness and her mother arrived at seven fifty-five at most and met the princess there," the prosecutor began explaining. "The first thing is that it contradicts what she said in her testimony, as the defendant clearly stated she arrived at five past eight. Ten minutes of difference seems a bit too much for a simple mistake, don't you agree?" he directed the question to the audience.

Unfortunately for the attorney and her client, most of the audience that wasn't part of the Shepherds nodded in agreement.

"Then, we have another detail from the princess's testimony," Seiji continued. "The defendant said she left the castle at seven fifty-three and went straight to the festival. She said absolutely nothing about using any means of transport like a chariot or horse, so we can assume she went by foot. Walking from Ylisse Castle to Aeternum Village takes at least SIX minutes, which would make it impossible for her to have arrived BEFORE Sapphire and her mother."

"And if she teleported? We can teleport! We can use tomes to teleport everywhere! Can you imagine that? How wonderful it is! You are here and there and there and there and there and there and there and there…"

"Dear, please… Let Mr. Seiji speak," Caroline whispered to her daughter.

"Thank you," Seiji thanked the woman and turned to face the audience again. "That brings the question: how could she arrive at Aeternum Village in less than two minutes walking?"

Comments and whispers everywhere.

"The answer is very simple," he smiled maliciously. "She couldn't. It's simply impossible. It could only happen if she was already in the festival BEFORE they arrived, which means she was there much before five past eight."

Morgan had no idea of what the people behind her were talking about, but by the tone they used and some words she could understand it wasn't good.

Good for her client, that is, as Seiji seemed very happy by how everyone was reacting to his words.

"Morgan, do something!" Lucina angrily whispered.

"Huh? What do you expect me to do?!" the Proxy shot back irritated.

"You're my attorney, aren't you? You have to defend me!"

"Defend you how?" Morgan grumbled and crossed her arms.

"I don't know! Finding a way to defend me is your job!" the princess retorted, her voice a mix of anger and nervousness.

"And how on Earth am I supposed to do that?!" Morgan's voice had the same level of anger and nervousness as Lucina. "How can I argue against Seiji if he's telling the truth?!"

Lucina gasped in shock and glared furiously.

"You believe more in him than in me?!" she asked indignant.

"I believe in the facts and the facts say…"

The feeling of many eyes on her made Morgan leave her sentence unfinished and spy the audience behind them with the corner of an eye. Everyone, even the Shepherds, were looking at them, whispering something to the nearest person.

Morgan gulped loudly; they probably couldn't hear what they were saying, but they could see the two arguing nonstop. If the attorney was more worried in arguing with her client than defending her (which she should be doing in that exact moment, by the way), then there was something fishy happening in the defense table.

With all eyes still locked on her, Morgan took a deep breath to calm down and whispered as lowly as possible:

"The facts say you're lying! Everything Seiji said is exactly what I discovered! I want to help you, I really want, but I can't do that if you don't help yourself!"

"B-but…" Lucina began nervously.

"Listen, I'll try to do something," Morgan cut the princess. "Just don't expect things to get better, because in our current situation they won't."

With nothing else to say to her client, the young attorney turned her face to the prosecutor and the judge, leaving a very conflicted princess alone with her own thoughts.

"I see the inconsistencies," the judge affirmed thoughtful. "But how are these things connected to the malfunctioning clock in Aeternum Village?"

"Ah, well remembered, Your Honor," Seiji said gallantly. "Allow me to explain."

He turned to the audience again and began his explanation.

"The malfunctioning clock creates an inconsistence in Cynthia's testimony as well"

Whispers all around the room.

"If my memory doesn't fail me, she and Gerome claim to have arrived in Aeternum Village when the festival began, at eight o'clock. However, after some investigation, I discovered that the festival began much earlier than that. To put it in other words, when it was seven forty, the festival had already begun. If they really arrived when the festival began, then they would have arrived MUCH before eight o'clock."

More whispers.

"It conflicts with their testimonies, which led me to believe that, maybe, the two were lying as well."

Chrom, Sumia, Cherche and Virion immediately got up to protest.

"I said MAYBE," Seiji cut them before anyone could say something. "There's a little detail in Sapphire's testimony that convinced me that they were telling the truth."

The prosecutor then turned to the witness.

"Could you please tell them who you saw after you met Lucina?"

"Oh, sure!" Sapphire said. "I saw a funny blue haired boy wearing a ridiculous mask arriving at the festival! I remember that because he looked like Batman!"

Everyone (except Morgan) wondered who was that 'Batman' she was talking about.

"And is that person in this room?" Seiji asked.

Sapphire began scanning the whole room. After a bit of search, she smiled widely as the familiar figure appeared among the people.

"Yes! He's there!" she pointed at Gerome. "The funny boy with the ridiculous mask!"

Everyone turned to look at the Wyvern Rider, who glared incredulous and a bit indignant at the little girl.

"Funny boy?! Ridiculous mask?!" Gerome asked angrily.

"Say 'I'm Batman'!" Sapphire yelled enthusiastically.

"I won't say anything!" he shot back irritated. "And I'm not funny!"

"Ok, then!" the young girl announced. "From now on, you're boring!"

"POW! SNAP!" Morgan pointed a mocking finger at Gerome.

"MORGAN, SHUT UP!"

"Order! Order!" the judge ordered beating his hammer. "Little one, are you sure he's the person you saw?" he asked the little girl, who nodded with a smile.

"That's what convinced me that he and Cynthia were telling the truth," Seiji resumed his explanation. "Sapphire and her mother arrived at seven fifty-five at most, met Lucina, Sapphire showed her some stalls, then returned to her mother. If she saw Gerome arriving at the festival after meeting the princess, then it was sometime after seven fifty-five."

Seiji adjusted his bangs and smiled.

"Which makes arriving at the festival at eight o'clock completely possible."

The court room became filled with whispers. Everything the prosecutor said made sense and many began believing that the princess was indeed hiding something. Otherwise, why would there be so many inconsistencies in her testimony?

"Morgan, do something!" Lucina pulled the other girl's sleeve in a mix of irritation and nervousness, feeling all eyes locked on her.

One part of Morgan pleaded to leave Lucina suffering a bit more, but things were getting ugly very fast and if she didn't do something in the next twenty seconds or so, then more suspicions would fall on the princess, which was something she didn't want to happen.

No matter how much of a spoiled, stubborn girl Lucina was being, Morgan knew she hadn't killed the merchant and, as such, didn't deserve to be arrested for that. No matter what, she would fight for her friend until the end.

" _But what on Earth is she trying to hide that's worth all this?"_ Morgan mentally grumbled.

With a sigh, the young Proxy decided to say something.

"Your story is very convincing, Seiji. That I'll give to you," she tried to sound as calm and collected as possible. "However, my client looked at the clock tower and saw five past eight. Doesn't it mean that she arrived AFTER Gerome and Cynthia, thus confirming what she said in her testimony?"

"That's also something that can be contested by the malfunctioning clock," Seiji said unconcerned. "Let's say Lucina told the truth and did see five past eight in the clock. Thanks to everything I discovered, we can securely say that the clock tower wasn't working properly. In other words, the clock could be showing five past eight, but it could be sometime EARLIER."

"HOLD IT!" Morgan spoke up. "Like you said, it COULD be sometime earlier," Morgan emphasized. "Do you have anything to prove it was indeed earlier?"

Seiji shook his head negatively, but kept a smug smile.

"Unfortunately, I lack evidence to prove that. However, if it isn't the case, then how could she have met Sapphire and her mother when they arrived before eight?" the prosecutor smiled from ear to ear. "Unless we consider that Lucina arrived sometime before that, then the rest of the story, and her testimony as well, become impossible to have happened."

The audience began commenting Seiji's statement. Although she couldn't understand what most of them were saying, Morgan felt in the back of her head that things were getting worse by the second.

Everything the prosecutor had said until then was right and she knew it; the audience was starting to notice it as well. In truth, inside her left pocket lied a small piece of paper that proved all that and even more. Of course, she would NEVER show that paper in court, as it would be the same as putting a sign saying Lucina was lying on the princess's head, but that thing's simple presence nearby was making Morgan even more nervous than she wanted to be.

To add insult to injury, her nervousness was apparent in her face, which made Seiji more and more confident.

"Oh, yes!" the prosecutor smiled maliciously. "There's another little detail I nearly forgot."

"To change your underwear?" Sapphire suddenly tried to guess. "Because I noticed you're wearing the same blue one you wore earlier today when you went to my house! I know it because I can see something blue coming out of your pants!"

"SAPPHIRE!" both Mark and Caroline scolded.

"No! It isn't that! Can you please stop interrupting me?!" Seiji turned to glare at the little girl, his face a deep red.

Clearing his throat, adjusting the collar of his shirt and recovering his composure, Seiji turned to the audience once again and said:

"The facts say Lucina arrived before Cynthia and Gerome. When Gerome arrived at the festival, what did he see entering Ever Woods?"

Morbid silence.

"A person wearing a hoody that matches the one the defendant was wearing in the same night," a sarcastic smile appeared in his face. "Considering everything we heard until now, I think we can say that the person Gerome saw that night wasn't someone trying to frame Lucina…"

Seiji pointed a finger at the princess and loudly accused:

"But Lucina herself, which means there was no one else in Ever Woods when Nikolai was killed except for him and her!"

All the Shepherds got up from their seats to protest furiously against the prosecutor's statement, who remained completely chill and relaxed despite the unmeasurable amount of threats thrown at him.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded beating his hammer. "I'll have order!"

"Morgan, don't be quiet!" Lucina whispered to her attorney. "Say something!"

The white-haired girl bit her lip and felt large drops of sweat running down her face. She wanted to say something… Her mind demanded her to say something!

But she couldn't. She simply couldn't.

No matter what she thought, everything would die just a bit after reaching her mouth, leaving an unpleasant taste on her tongue. The disgusting flavor of uselessness and powerlessness. The dreadful feeling of impending doom and inability to act.

The painful knowledge that Seiji was right.

"Very well," the judge began after managing to restore silence to the court room. "Mr. Seiji, do you have something else to say?"

Seiji spied Morgan and Lucina with the corner of an eye and noticed how nervous both girls looked. Satisfied at the sight, he looked at the judge and calmly announced:

"No, Your Honor. I already said everything I wanted," he put both hands on his back. "The prosecution ends its direct examination."

With this said, he happily returned to his table.

"Since the prosecution has ended the direct examination," the judge turned to face Morgan. "The defense can start the cross-examination."

Taking a deep breath, gathering all the courage she could and sighing loudly, Morgan got up from her seat and walked towards the witness.

"Hi, Morgan!" Sapphire happily waved her hand.

"Hello, little one," Morgan replied. She tried to sound unworried, but the nervousness in her voice was clear.

" _Oh, boy… What am I going to do?"_ the Proxy cried inwardly. _"There's no way I can take Lucina out of this mess now…"_

 **Cross-Examination**

"Sapphire, my sweetie…" Morgan desperately tried to find something to ask. "Did you notice something weird in Lucina's behavior when you met at the festival?"

"No! Nothing! She seemed fine!" Sapphire declared. "Miss Lady Guy looked to be very well! She was smiling and smelled nice and looked nice and talked like a nice person! The only thing not nice was her hoody! Her hoody was stinky!"

"Hey! I washed it the day before!" Lucina argued. "And stop calling me Miss Lady Guy!"

"It isn't 'stinky' in the sense that it smelled bad, Lucina," Morgan tried to explain. "It's that it sucked."

"With that I'm forced to agree…" Seiji lowly murmured.

"Nothing weird in her behavior," the girl proceeded, ignoring her client's glare while turning to the audience. "My good members of the audience, let me tell you a story."

"Oh! Is it about the wyvern king that defeated the horrible octopus chairman that wanted to turn all the world's candies into carrots?" Sapphire enthusiastically asked.

Nowi gasped loudly.

"What a horrible octopus!" she said indignant.

"I can't see what's wrong with that," Yarne commented confused.

"IN ANY CASE," Morgan said slightly irritated. "A long time ago, my parents taught me how to discover when someone is lying. In truth, it isn't very hard, you only need a good eye to know what to look for."

"Where are you trying to get?" Seiji asked indifferent.

"Be patient," Morgan raised a hand to the prosecutor, who sighed in annoyance. "When people are lying, they become prone to behave weirdly, like rubbing their hands or playing with locks of their hair. Even the eyes can delate a lie."

"And…?" the prosecutor inquired.

"Per Sapphire, Lucina was behaving normally. If she was lying, especially to hide possible intentions of a murder, don't you think she would be at least a bit nervous?"

In her sincerest opinion, Morgan thought that was the worst excuse she ever made in her life and Seiji's unconvinced face only made her even surer of it.

"Actually…" Caroline suddenly spoke. "It makes sense. I didn't stay with Sapphire and the princess, but by what I saw she looked fine."

To the attorney and the prosecutor's surprise, many people in the audience nodded in agreement.

" _Man, did it really work?"_ Morgan thought in disbelief.

"HOLD IT!" Seiji quickly intervened, noticing how people were easily getting convinced by such a ridiculous story. "You said that your parents taught you how to do that. YOUR PARENTS," he emphasized. "The Grandmaster of Ylisse and the former strategical head of the Grimleal, both talented tacticians with legendary magical power and leadership. Do you really think a five years old girl would be able to notice something if you had to be taught by people of that caliber?"

Nods everywhere.

"Indeed, knowing when someone is lying isn't easy, but noticing weird behavior is," the Proxy retorted. "If nothing was detected, then probably it was nothing."

"Criminals are experts at hiding feelings or pretending," the prosecutor shot back, prompting the Shepherds to protest again. "Besides, you have no evidence to prove that, which means your statement has no value."

"OBJECTION!" Morgan turned to the judge. "If my statement can be nullified for that reason, then his accusation of Lucina arriving earlier than she claims must be as well. He even admitted lacking the evidence to prove that, on top of all."

The judge nodded.

"Objection granted. Mr. Seiji, your commentary will be ignored."

Seiji rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Also, who knows if Lucina really left the castle at the time she claims to?" the girl continued. "She never specified how she knew the time."

Whispers everywhere. The judge groomed his beard a few times and nodded.

"Indeed, she hasn't." he turned to face Lucina with a serious expression. "Ms. Lucina, how did you know the time you left the castle?"

Lucina seemed to be taken aback by the question, clearly unprepared for it. Noticing how nervous the princess looked made Morgan immediately regret saying that.

" _Please, whatever happens don't say you…"_

"I guessed."

" _She said…"_ Morgan facepalmed.

Everyone began commenting the statement.

"You guessed?" Seiji asked unconvinced. "You guessed the time you left was seven FIFTY-THREE?

" _It's over… We're over…"_ Morgan began lamenting in her head.

"I was in the castle's kitchen before I left," Lucina began explaining. "There's a clock there. When I looked at it, it was seven fifty. It takes at least two minutes from the kitchen to the main gate, which means I left the castle around seven fifty-two or seven fifty-three. Since I wasn't sure, I considered that I took more time than expected."

Now it was Morgan's turn to be taken aback. That wasn't what she told her earlier that day. She made it sometime after they argued, and by the way Lucina looked she created that story in that exact moment.

" _Slimy, putrid liar…"_ the white-haired girl glared holes at her client.

"Sounds convincing…" Seiji rubbed his chin. "But not enough for me. That creates even more holes in the story than fixes."

He got up.

"It conflicts with the time Sapphire and her mother arrived at the festival. If you're telling the truth, then their testimony is wrong."

A commotion began.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer.

When silence returned, the elderly man turned his face to Caroline.

"Mistress, are you sure of the time you left your house?"

Caroline looked unsure.

"Unless our clock is wrong, I'm sure we left at seven fifty-two. It's a very old clock, though. Who knows if it has started to malfunction."

"In truth, a few days ago, I heard some weird sound coming from it." Mark suddenly added. "I don't know if it means something, but we haven't made many precative repairs on that clock since we bought it twenty years ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if it broke."

The judge rubbed his chin thoughtful. After hearing everything, he had the faint feeling that the defendant was lying or at least not telling the whole truth, but since there were still too many doubts on the matter, he couldn't simply claim the princess a liar or not. He would have to wait a bit more.

"Ms. Morgan, do you have something else to ask?"

Morgan rubbed the back of her head unsure. After a bit of thought, she made her mind.

"No, Your Honor. I have… Actually…" something suddenly popped in her mind. "There's a little thing I would like to ask Sapphire before I end the cross-examination."

She got closer to the small girl and asked:

"Although it has nothing to do with the case, it's something that's been bugging me for a while: why do you call Lucina 'Miss Lady Guy'? What's the meaning of that?"

Lucina's eyes widened in shock and she got ready to argue against that, but was cut by Sapphire before she had the chance to say one single letter.

"It's because when I first met her, I thought she was a boy! I only discovered she was girl when she got near me! Since she's a girl that looks like a guy, I called her Miss Lady Guy!"

Lucina's jaw dropped in incredulity.

"What?! I look like a guy?!" the princess got up from her chair and glared indignant at Sapphire. "Why did you think I was a man?!"

And, without a single drop of hesitation, Sapphire bluntly answered:

"Because you don't have boobies!"

"SAPPHIRE!" Caroline and Mark scolded, both extremely embarrassed at the language their daughter used.

The court room became another noisy mess; the flatty subject made a triumphal return.

"O-of course I have!" Lucina angrily stuttered, instinctively covering the breasts with her arms and blushing intensely.

"Oh, dear Naga…" Morgan facepalmed and shook her head. "Now she's going to become unbearable…"

"Don't worry, Miss Lady Guy!" Sapphire tried to comfort the embarrassed princess. "You don't need boobies to be beautiful! You're beautiful just the way you are! You're happy with yourself and healthy too!"

"SAPPHIRE!" Mark and Caroline scolded again.

"Besides, you aren't the only one here!" the little girl then pointed at someone in the audience. "That woman there also doesn't have boobies and is super beautiful!"

Awkward silence. It wasn't a woman. It was Libra.

"I'm a man!" the War Monk said irritated.

"Really?" Sapphire smiled in surprise and admiration. "Wow! It's Mister Guy Lady!"

"SAPPHIRE!"

The court room exploded in laughter, leaving the poor Libra completely humiliated.

"Ignore them, honey," Maribelle hugged her husband, trying to comfort him. "Simply ignore them."

"Okiedokieeeeee… I think that's all…" Morgan didn't know where to look at. "The defense has nothing else to ask."

And with that, she quickly returned to the defense table, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Order! I demand order! And I demand NOW!" the judge ordered severely many times.

Slowly, the laughs disappeared and things returned to normality (at least, as much normality as possible).

"Since both parts have made their questions," the judge said when silence was restored and turned to face Sapphire and her parents. "I'll let the witness and her parents leave."

"Already? That was fast!" Sapphire said surprised, while Mark and Caroline nodded at the judge.

"Come on, dear. Let's go home," Mark said, helping his daughter get up from the chair.

"Can we eat first? I'm starving!" Sapphire said rubbing her belly.

"Sure," the judge said, then looked to the guard at his right. "Please, take them to the kitchen and get something for the little one."

"Yes, Your Honor," the guard bowed to the judge and approached the three family members.

For the two parents, it was a bit unexpected to see the judge complying with their daughter's will, but they were grateful nonetheless. Both thanked the elder man and were about to take Sapphire's hands when something got the little girl's attention.

"Wow! What a nice spear you got there!" she pointed at the spear the guard was holding. "Can I have it?" she raised her hand at the weapon.

"Uh?! Of course not!" the guard, taken aback by the sudden question, held the spear defensively and took some steps back. "This isn't a toy! This is a real spear and it's very dange…"

Noticing the guard was distracted answering her question, Sapphire quickly ran at the him and snatched the weapon from his hands with the skill of a professional thief.

"Wow! It's so cool!" her eyes shone in amazement. "Look at me! I'm a soldier!" she made a combat pose. "I fight for justice, peace and to protect all children of the world from the Monster of One Thousand Stomachs!"

"Hey! Give it back to me!" the guard demanded severely.

"Sapphire! That isn't a toy!" Mark scolded. "Give it back to the guard before…"

"Oh, no!" completely unaware of her father's scolding, Sapphire turned to face the guard with an expression filled of false fear. "It's a horrible flying Risen! He's going to eat us alive and throw our intestines to the air!"

"What?" the guard raised an eyebrow.

"Take this!"

Sapphire had absolutely no intention of hurting anyone, but her hyperactivity made her brain unable to understand what she really had in hands and launch an attack at the 'flying Risen'. Fortunately, the guard was fast enough to dodge the tip of the spear just a few seconds before it hit his left leg.

"Are you crazy?! Don't do that!" the guard yelled in a mix of anger and horror.

"Sapphire! That's a real spear!" Caroline scolded severely. "You'll hurt…"

"Take that!" Sapphire launched another attack at the guard.

"Agh!" the man stepped back just in time.

"I'll get you, horrible creation of Grima!" with lots of determination in her eyes, Sapphire tried another attack, slightly ripping some of the guard's shirt.

He looked horrified at the hole made by the spear. That girl was unbelievably fast; she was an opponent he had no way to face.

And she was just five years old!

"Get ready to die!" Sapphire yelled with the voice of a fearsome warrior.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" the guard screamed in horror and went running to the door, leaving the court room in despair. "I'M NOT PAID WELL ENOUGH FOR THIS!"

"Come back!" the little girl chased after the guard with impressive speed.

"Sapphire!" Mark and Caroline said in unison, running after their daughter.

The whole court room (audience, defense, prosecution, the remaining guard and even the judge) stared incredulous at the open door.

"Uh…" unsure on how to react, the judge groomed his beard, adjusted his glasses, cleared his throat and turned to the other guard. "I think you should go help him."

The remaining guard nodded to the elderly man and left the court room to help his colleague, although he was also a bit worried of facing the little 'demonic' girl.

"Well, this is the last session of the day, which means we don't have other guards to take their place while they're out and it's already fifteen past eight, so…" the judge rubbed his chin thoughtful. "Ms. Morgan, Mr. Seiji."

Attorney and prosecutor turned to face the judge.

"I think we should stop and return home now. Let's resume the trial tomorrow."

Both sighed, each for a different reason. On one hand, Seiji was disappointed to know the judge wasn't going to put the defendant inside a cell for forging a false testimony despite everything shown just moments ago. On other hand, Morgan was relieved to know she still had a chance to revert that bad situation to her side, although unsure on how she would do that with Lucina so determined to keep the truth, whatever it was, hidden.

"The defense has nothing against the decision," the Proxy declared.

"Your Honor," Seiji approached the man. "with all respect, the testimony of my witness has given us enough proof that the witness is lying, which is, for me, reason enough to at least put her under temporary arrestment."

Lucina cringed in her chair.

"Yes, Mr. Seiji. It would be," the judge said before any of the Shepherds could protest the prosecutor's statement, making them all freeze in shock. "However, like happened yesterday, that information alone isn't concrete enough to claim the defendant a liar. Mrs. Caroline and Mr. Mark even admitted that their clock could be wrong, which means Ms. Sapphire's testimony still gives too much room for doubts to be used against the defendant."

Worried, Seiji tried to say something else, but was cut by the judge, who said with a serious voice:

"And even if she's lying, it doesn't prove she killed Nikolai Loss."

The man's voice tone was enough to tell Seiji he wouldn't be convinced to change his mind, making the prosecutor give up on saying whatever he was going to.

"In this case, the prosecution has nothing against the decision," he bitterly admitted defeat.

The judge nodded to the boy and began examining some papers.

"You had luck," Seiji whispered to Morgan. "But it isn't going to last."

" _The worst part is that I know it…"_ the white-haired girl thought worried.

After checking a few more papers, the judge turned to face the two again.

"Since it looks like this case will go on for a bit more than expected, I'll take the last session of tomorrow's schedule, at four in the afternoon. This way, we'll have all the time until eight in the evening to use if needed. I want you two here without delay."

Morgan and Seiji nodded.

"As for the defendant," the elderly man turned to face Lucina. "Although it hasn't been proved that you forged a false testimony, there's strong evidence that you have. Because of that, you're forbidden of leaving Ylisstol until it has been proved true or false. If you disobey, you'll be immediately arrested for contempt of court order."

Lucina's eyes widened in terror. She couldn't leave Ylisstol or would be arrested? How could that be called justice?

All the Shepherds looked worried at the princess, while Morgan felt her nerves tensing and Seiji smiling maliciously at her side.

"We meet again tomorrow, in this same court room, at four in the afternoon to resume this trial," the judge beat his hammer. "Court…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed desperately two guards running past the room's door.

"Come back here, you cowards!" Sapphire appeared just a bit after them, chasing both with two spears in her hands. "Who sent those babies to fight?"

"Sapphire! If you don't stop it right now, you'll be forbidden of playing outside for the next three months!" Caroline threatened running after her daughter, closely followed by her husband.

"Ah… Adjourned…" the judge awkwardly finished his sentence.

 **Outside the court room, Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 8:26 PM**

Morgan was one of the first to leave the court room, ignoring anyone in her way to get out of that place as soon as possible.

The back of her head tingled furiously and her whole body trembled with nervousness. She knew things were bad for them, but could never imagine that they would be so bad. All the evidence she gathered, all the information she got, everything turned against Lucina simply because she didn't want to tell what the hell truly happened.

" _What is she hiding?"_ Morgan kept asking herself. _"What is it? Why is she so determined to hide it? I can't understand,"_ the girl shook her head frustrated. _"She's giving even more fuel to all the ill rumors about her!"_

On a side note, there were LOTS of ill rumors about her. Like… You have no idea of how many.

Feeling a strong headache coming, Morgan quickly walked across the vast hall towards the door, ready to leave the Ylissean Court and go back home…

"Morgan!"

When a very familiar voice yelled from behind her.

The girl stopped in place, clenched her fists furiously and turned around yelling:

"What do you want now?!"

"What was that in the court room?!" Lucina complained. "Seiji was massacring me and you barely did anything!"

"And what was I supposed to do?!" Morgan shot back irritated. "Everything, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING he said makes sense and all the evidence I got only confirms that! I already told you! What did you think I could possibly do?!"

"I don't know!" Lucina said exasperated. "That's why I kept asking you to do something! If I could defend myself, I would do it!"

"And if I could defend you, I would do it!" Morgan glared furiously at Lucina. "But I can't do it if you keep lying!"

"I'm not…"

"DON'T YOU DARE TO FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Morgan threatened. "I KNOW IT ISN'T THE TRUTH! EVERYTHING I SAW TELLS ME THAT!"

"I thought we were friends!" Lucina retorted indignant. "I thought you believed in me!"

"And I'm your friend!" the white-haired girl got closer to the princess. "That's why I haven't given up yet despite everything going against us! That's why I'm so stressed about this whole mess! That's why I still believe you're innocent! And that's why you must tell me the truth!"

"I…" Lucina seemed extremely conflicted, her face a light red. "I can't…"

"Why not?!"

"I… I simply can't!"

"WHY NOT?!"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T!" the princess yelled angrily. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THAT WOULD DESTROY MY REPUTATION! THE REPUTATION OF MY FAMILY! IT WOULD CAUSE TROUBLE TO EVERYONE, EVEN TO R…"

She quickly covered her mouth to suppress the last part.

"Even to who?" Morgan inquired.

Lucina turned her face away.

"Even to who?!"

Lucina closed her eyes with force.

"EVEN TO WHO?!" Morgan yelled angry.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" the princess delivered in the same tone. "YOU ONLY ASKED ME TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH AND SO I DID!"

"NO! YOU DIDN'T! HALF OF A TRUTH ISN'T A TRUTH!" the Proxy shot back.

"ENOUGH!" Chrom quickly got between the two girls and separated them, followed by the rest of the Shepherds. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they missed most of their conversation and were unaware of what they were talking about.

Sumia quickly ran to Lucina's side, holding the furious princess. Noire ran to Morgan's side and held her arm, asking the girl to calm down. Chrom remained between the two for precaution.

"Sincerely, what's going on with you two?!" the Exalt asked constantly changing his gaze between Lucina and Morgan. "Since the trial began you have been acting weird!"

"Oh, you want to know what is happening?! Let me tell you, then!" Morgan got free from Noire's grasp and approached Lucina as much as Chrom allowed. "Your little, precious daughter lied in court and forged a false testimony!"

Chrom's eyes widened in incredulity.

"What?! Morgan, you can't be serious!"

"I've never been more serious in my whole life!" the girl shot back. "All the evidence I got matches with what Seiji said! Lucina is hiding something and unless she tells me what I can't do anything for her!"

Chrom and Sumia gave Lucina a shocked look.

"Lucy… Is it true?" the queen asked, unwilling to believe it.

Lucina seemed troubled to answer.

"To your mother, Lucina! If not to me, at least to your mother!" Morgan practically pleaded. "Tell your mother like I would tell to mine!"

"How can you compare the two?! Someone like Aversa can't even be considered a person!" Lucina said angrily.

"LUCINA!" Sumia gasped incredulous.

The princess was so angry that she only noticed the horrible thing she said after hearing her mother gasping.

"M-Morgan… I didn't…" she tried to apologize.

"Insulting me is one thing," Morgan had a creepy smile in her face. "Insulting my skills is another thing. Insulting what I do is another completely different thing," she got dangerously close to the princess. "BUT INSULTING MY FAMILY IS WHERE YOU CROSSED ALL THE LINES! TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID BEFORE I CUT YOUR TONGUE OFF!"

Lucina instinctively tried to step away from the furious girl.

"Morgan, calm down!" Noire tried to hold her friend.

"Calm down my ass!" Morgan roared. "I'm trying to help her and that's how she thanks me?! After all the bullshit I had to stand because of her?!"

"I'm sorry!" Lucina yelled.

"If you're sorry, then start spilling the beans! NOW!"

"NO!"

"WHY ON HELL NOT?!"

"Morgan, stop that!" Chrom tried to make the Grandmaster's daughter step back, but all the fury made her unbelievably strong and he couldn't push her one centimeter away.

"DO IT!" Morgan yelled.

"NO!" Lucina cried.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT MY MOTHER IS A BAD PERSON IF YOU'RE BEING A BIG, SPOILED, SELFISH BABY?!"

"SHUT UP!" Lucina slapped Morgan on her left cheek, making the girl lose her balance and fall on the floor.

"Morgan!" Noire kneeled at her friend's side.

A morbid silence filled the hall. No one, absolutely no one could believe what had just happened. Not even Lucina herself.

All the Shepherds looked incredulous at the two girls, unsure if what they saw was real. Sumia looked jaw dropped at Morgan fallen on the floor, completely unable to do anything. Chrom, after recovering from the shock, kneeled at his best friend's daughter side to check how she was.

And Lucina stared completely horrified at her own hand.

Morgan slowly took a sitting position and gave Lucina a fulminant glare, a very visible red mark on the cheek she was attacked.

"M… Morgan…" the princess tried to find the words. "I… I didn't… I would never…"

Morgan glared even harder. Noire held the girl's arm, fearing that she could try to retaliate.

"P… Please… Believe me…"

"Lucina, not now," Chrom interrupted his daughter and turned to Morgan. "Here, let me help you…"

Morgan pushed Chrom's hand away, got free from Noire's grasp, got up, turned around and left to the door without saying anything.

"M… Morgan…" Lucina tried to call, but did it so weakly that it went out in the same volume as a whisper.

Coincidentally, in that exact moment, Severa, Brady, Owain, Cynthia and Inigo arrived at the court.

"Man, my back is killin' me!" Brady complained giving a few beats on his back.

"Imagine my arms, then!" Severa said grumpy. "I can't believe we had to carry all those stupid rocks from the castle's entrance to the toilet!"

"My sword hand…" Owain began painfully. "It… Hurts… Too much…"

"I just want to rest…" Cynthia cried. "But I must… Go to… Lucina…"

"Why did I have to do it as well?!" Inigo complained, cleaning some dust from his hair. "Father and Mother didn't say anything about being angry!"

Brady was going to complain about something else when he noticed Morgan going in his direction.

"Hey, Morgan. Did we lose too much?" he asked.

Morgan passed by him and the others without saying anything or even greeting them.

"Uh?" Inigo looked a bit disappointed. "She didn't… Even greet me?"

"What do you think has happened?" Owain asked.

The group then looked to where Morgan came from and noticed all the others looking shaken, shocked or upset.

"I'm feelin' we just arrived at the worst moment possible." Brady concluded, a drop of cold sweat running down the back of his head.

 **Outside the Ylissean Court, Ylisstol, September 25** **th** **, 8:48 PM**

She was furious. Nothing could describe her state of spirit better than that.

After everything she did her reward was an insult to her family, a slap on her face and a gigantic headache that couldn't be cured by aspirins. It all was more than enough for Morgan to reach one conclusion:

"Working for the royalty sucks."

Tired and feeling her head heavy, Morgan initially thought about going back home and sleeping until two in the afternoon of the next day, but ended having a different idea. Her father wouldn't be very happy with that, but a little walk out of the right way never killed anyone.

Besides, who said she had to tell him about that?

"Beer. I only need lots and lots of beer to drown everything on alcohol and I know the perfect place for that."

With a sigh, Morgan changed her route and headed to the same tavern her parents used to spend some of their free nights, so upset and tired of everything that she didn't notice her phone rumbling with a message from Maggot neither the black stork who observed her from afar taking flight and disappearing in the night sky.

 **To be continued…**

 _The ending didn't sound so intense in my mind when I imagined it…_

 _I do think it ended being much better than I expected, though. A bit of conflict and doom between the wacky moments creates a good atmosphere :D_

…

 _At least in my opinion. Not sure if I exaggerated a bit during the last part :p_

 _Also, I didn't notice how much of a jerk I made Lucina look in this chapter until now. I hope she won't get too upset with me… I have nothing against her, it's just to create tension._

 _I had another thing to tell you guys, but this chapter is already very long and what I want to say would make a big author note, so I'll leave it for the next one._

 _Thank you for using your precious time to read my story! It means a lot to me!_

 _See you in the next chapter!_

 _And don't forget: you guys rock!_


	10. Hideous Plans and a Talking Stroganoff

_I'm a bit later than usual because I had some writing issues at the middle of the chapter and recently suffered a small accident with a knife that delayed me some days._

 _By the way, I know the chapter's name is ridiculous as hell, but I ensure you'll understand why it's named like that._

 _Well, nonetheless, here we go again!_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Fire Emblem and everything related to it, except for this story, belong to Nintendo. Anything related to other franchises belongs to their respective creators. I only own this story and the characters created for it._

 _And my 3DS, of course :D_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 10: The Hideous Plan of Terrance, the Talking Stroganoff**

 **Ylissean Court, September 25** **th** **, 9:04 PM**

Still disconcerted by the argument between the two girls and the disastrous result of it, the Shepherds remained in the Ylissean Court even after everyone else left, separated in small groups that commented the most varied things about that calamitous day in a low tone.

While most of the adults tried to digest what they saw, in the group formed by the children, Brady, Severa, Inigo, Owain and Cynthia incredulously listened to Laurent and Kjelle narrating all the events they missed.

The folder disappearing, Lucina being massacred in court, Morgan being slapped…

Yes, it was a huge mess to process.

"Lucy, calm down. You're trembling," Sumia said with a worried tone, carefully making her daughter sit on a chair nearby.

"What did I do?" Lucina asked herself, shaking her head in disapproval and apparently unaware of what her mother was doing. "What did I do? What did I do?"

"Lucina, please calm down."

"Gods, what did I do?" the princess murmured sourly. "How could I do that? WHY did I do that?" in utmost regret, Lucina hid the face in her hands. "She'll never forgive me…"

"Lucina, that isn't true," Sumia said with a serious tone. "You did something bad, but Morgan will forgive you."

"After that? How?" the princess replied a bit ruder than she wanted.

"Dear, what you did was wrong and I won't deny it," Chrom suddenly appeared at Lucina's side, putting a hand on her shoulder. "but it happened. There's no use in mourning it now. The best you can do is apologize to Morgan whenever you have the chance."

"Yes, that's right," Sumia agreed with her husband. "You just have to apologize. I'm sure Morgan will forgive you. You two are friends."

With a deep sigh, Lucina looked down and bitterly said:

"That's what I hope."

"That Morgan will forgive you?" Chrom asked.

The princess shook her head negatively and corrected:

"That we're still friends."

Sumia and Chrom exchanged worried looks. It was a fact that the Shepherds didn't get along all the time and always found a way to get over their problems, but they were forced to admit Lucina was right.

That situation was on a whole different level.

"Maribelle, I'm not saying it'll happen or that I think it'll happen, but… is there any chance that Morgan can…" Stahl pulled the collar of his shirt nervously and gulped. "Abandon the case?"

Everyone that heard it looked incredulous at the man, who flinched and instinctively took a few steps back.

"I-I'm not saying it'll happen!" the man desperately repeated. "I'm just worried! Only that!"

When they got over the shock, all eyes turned to the Valkyrie spinning her parasol in a clear sign of nervousness that made a chill run down everyone's spines. After a few more seconds of hesitation, Maribelle sighed and answered:

"Since Morgan accepted to be Lucina's attorney, the law forbids her of abandoning her duties without a good reason. However, there's a way she can do it."

"And that would be?" Cherche asked a bit unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

"Well, let's say what happened now was indeed the last straw and Morgan decides to abandon the case," the Valkyrie proceeded to explain. "The first thing she can do is use this incident as a reason to abandon her duty."

"What do you mean?" Stahl asked.

"She can accuse Lucina of physical harm and open a process against her."

Everyone nearby gasped.

"B… but that would mean… she would be accused of three things?!" the green knight asked jaw dropped.

"Yes," Maribelle confirmed with a nod. "Homicide, forging of false testimony and physical harm. Since Morgan is one of the impaired parts, her duties as Lucina's attorney would be automatically ended."

Despite the distance, Lucina overheard the conversation and felt her nerves tensing.

"B-but Morgan would never do it, right?!" Stahl stuttered nervous.

"I don't think so, but…" Maribelle bit her lip worried. "She has all the resources for it. And the reasons too…"

The whole place was filled with a morbid silence. No one believed (and didn't want to believe) that Morgan would do such a thing and abandon Lucina when she most needed her, but it was impossible to deny that the Grandmaster's daughter had the reasons and the resources to do it, and that alone was extremely scary.

"So… ya are telling me the folder disappeared while she was out? Today? Before she began the investigation?" Brady asked worried.

"Yes, it did," Kjelle answered.

Brady scratched the back of his head. Noticing the boy's nervousness, Kjelle got closer and gave him a suspicious glare.

"What are you trying to hide?" she asked with a severe tone.

"Uh? What are ya talkin' about?" Brady retorted.

"Don't try to fool me," the Knight shot back. "You're clearly nervous. What was in that folder?"

"Lemme think… the documents Ma got. What else?" the Priest said sarcastically.

"Are you mocking me?" Kjelle glared holes at the boy.

"Not ya. Just the fact that ya needed someone else to tell you the obvious," Brady glared back.

"O-okay, okay… calm down you two," Noire quickly got between the Priest and the Knight and separated them. "We already had a very bad argument today and don't need another one."

"Yes, man. What happened to you? I never saw you like that." Inigo asked Brady, who just uncharacteristically huffed and turned his face away.

Except for Kjelle and Severa, who were glaring at him, all the children looked confused at Maribelle's son. He rarely, if ever, used such rude sarcasm with anyone, so what made him become sour so suddenly?

In truth, that unexpected change in attitude was just a way he found to hide his immense nervousness.

" _Dunderhead…"_ Severa growled in her mind, shooting darts with her eyes at Brady.

"Okay, everyone. Today was an eventful day and I think we all need to rest," Chrom suddenly announced to all, noticing the worried faces around him. "We should go home and get ready for tomorrow. By the way things are going, I don't think it'll end so soon."

Everyone nodded; they were indeed tired and the following days looked to be even more stressful, so a good night of rest was a need. They were still worried about Morgan, of course, especially because of how she left without saying anything, but considering what and how it happened, going after her didn't sound like a good idea.

Or at least, it wouldn't be a good idea for some people, as there was someone who had more chances of looking for her with reduced chances of undesired side effects.

"Mother, father," Noire turned to face Tharja and Henry. "I have an idea of where Morgan may be. I'll go after her."

Both parents gave their daughter a curious look.

"Are you sure about that?" Tharja asked emotionless.

"Yes. I'm worried about her," Noire then looked down. "And if my guess is right, it'll be better if someone is near to keep an eye on what she's doing."

Although not sure of what she meant, the two spellcasters ended allowing Noire to go after Morgan, with Tharja simply nodding and Henry happily saying a loud:

"Ok, then! Go on!"

The young Archer nodded, thanked her parents and ran to the door at full speed, her sudden leave getting the attention of all who didn't hear her request.

"Where is she going?" Chrom asked, looking intrigued at Noire leaving the building.

"She's going after Morgan," Tharja answered with a monotonous tone. "Apparently, she knows where to find her."

Hearing that, Lucina immediately got up and went running after Noire, ignoring her parents telling her to stay. Seeing the princess leaving prompted Brady to also go after the Archer at quick steps, surprising everyone.

However, both were stopped by their parents before reaching the door, Libra quickly putting himself in front of Brady and Chrom going after Lucina and firmly holding her arm when she was about to grab the doorknob.

"F-father?" Lucina asked surprised at her father's action.

"Lucina, I know what you want to do and I understand that," the blue-haired man said, gently pulling his daughter a bit away from the door. "but Noire should go alone."

"But she knows where Morgan is!" the princess said exasperated, trying to get free from her father's grasp. "I have to find her! I must apologize to her! I have to fix what I did!"

"I know, I know…" Chrom grabbed Lucina's other arm to control the girl. "You want to fix this and that's excellent, but, considering everything that happened, it would be better if you don't go after Morgan yet, because she's probably still upset."

"B-but…"

"Besides, excluding Robin and Aversa, Noire is the closest person to Morgan in the army," Chrom quickly cut her. "She knows what to do and say. Leave it to her."

Lucina still wanted to go after her attorney, but was forced to admit her father was right and reluctantly complied with him, letting the man lead her back to her seat. Not far from them, Libra was also trying to convince Brady to stay.

"But I gotta go after Morgan, Pa!" the young Priest constantly tried to get past his father.

"Brady, I don't think that's a good idea," the War Monk kept stepping from one side to another, blocking his son's way. "Morgan's still angry and she becomes unpredictable in these conditions. Noire knows how to deal with her when she's like that. It's better if she goes alone."

"But I have to speak with her now!" Brady insisted.

"You can't. If you have something to tell her, you'll have to do it tomorrow," Libra said with a stern tone.

"Honey, listen to your father," Maribelle approached Brady from behind and held his arm. "Let Noire go alone. It's the best thing to do now."

Knowing he had no chance to convince his parents to let him go, Brady sighed disappointed and unwillingly complied. Satisfied, Maribelle let go of his arm and went to speak with Chrom and Sumia, with Libra going after her. When the two got away, Severa slowly walked to Brady's side, positioned herself at his right and sarcastically asked with a bored tone:

"Nothing to worry about, huh? Everything will be fine, huh?"

"How was I supposed to know the folder would be stolen?!" Brady turned to face Severa with an irritated expression.

"I'm not saying you were supposed to know it would happen. I'm saying you should have hid it in a way easier to be found INSTEAD OF HAVING THAT STUPID IDEA!" the Mercenary shot back. "If you did, she would already know IT and we wouldn't have to worry, but now we don't know if she saw the message you left and have to wait until she comes back to discover!"

"Ya know just as well as me that I had to make it hard to be found!" the young Priest shot back with a glare. "We were bein' followed!"

"But did you need to hide it like THAT?! Who in the world would discover it?!" the girl angrily inquired.

Brady nearly said something, but ultimately decided that continuing the argument would be pointless and decided to put everything aside and concentrate on the current events.

"I just hope she found it before they stole the folder…" Brady said to change the subject.

"She better has. Otherwise, all our hard work will have gone to waste…" Severa bitterly added.

Outside, completely unaware of what was happening in the Ylissean Court, Noire ran to the middle of the street and stopped to look around, trying to mentally locate herself and decide which route would be the fastest to get back to the castle.

Unfortunately for her, our intrepid Proxy was very far away from Ylisse Castle in that exact moment.

 **The Golden Barrel, September 25** **th** **, 9:17 PM**

"Carla! Fill the mug!" Morgan yelled loudly to the waitress, slamming the empty mug on the table.

With a sigh, the waitress, who was the 'Carla' Morgan called by the way, approached the girl, took a jar full of beer and filled her mug AGAIN.

"Morgan, don't you think you're drinking too much?" the woman bluntly asked.

"What are you talking about?!" the Proxy asked with a loud, dumb voice before turning the mug and drinking all its content at once. "There's none of that… 'Hic!' Bullshit of drinking too much when we speak about beer! Beer is… 'Hic!' Purer than water coming straight from… 'Hic!' The fountain in Ylisstol!"

"The water from the fountain isn't pure… it's the rain water that accumulates in the water galleries and can't be used to drink," Carla retorted annoyed.

"You got what I meant! Now fill the mug again! And bring me more fried chicken!" Morgan raised both the mug and the empty plate on her table.

Without much choice but obey, Carla took the mug and the plate rolling her eyes and went back to the kitchen get more for one of the pub's most 'loyal' clients.

"I'll tell ya one thing! Ya better pay attention!" Morgan began discoursing to an imaginary friend. "There's nothing better to do when you're sad than drink alcohol! Remember always that alcohol is… 'Hic!' Good for you! Whisky, vodka, beer, wine, tequila… everything! EVERY SINGLE SHIT OF THAT MAGICAL THINGAMAJIG!"

While Morgan continued giving life lessons to… someone… a certain red-haired man entered the bar with a sigh, snapping his fingers and yawning loudly.

"I'm exhausted…" he growled grumpy, scratching the back of his head. "That woman is surely a handful…"

It took a whole afternoon and a lot of persistence, but Gangrel finally convinced Emmeryn to let him go. She insisted he still needed to treat his wounds, though, and stubbornly held him in… wherever they were as much as she could, trying to convince him to stay longer.

Thinking back, Gangrel noticed he didn't know exactly what was that place Emmery took him to, but considering the amount of medicine and people dressed in white, he thought it was a hospital or medical clinic. How she had access to that place was another unanswered question, but she was the former Exalt, so he could theorize Emmeryn had a special permission or something of that kind.

What he really couldn't understand was why he let her take him wherever she wanted without complaining or resisting, especially considering it was, in a certain way, her fault that he ended all bruised and hurt.

Yes, he was the one who tried to pull her and ended ripping her clothes, but it wouldn't have happened if she wasn't so stubborn! They had already finished their business there, so why stay more? Thanks to that, Gangrel was mistaken for a molester and forced to endure a lot of people spanking him nearly to death. And to see Emmeryn's skin. Her soft, delicate skin…

In any case, those things had already happened and didn't matter anymore; he was back to his monotone, stupid life and all he wanted was something to eat. Of course, a pub like that one he had just entered wasn't exactly the kind of place he liked go to, but with limited resources (aka: money) and an empty stomach that wouldn't stop complaining he didn't have many options.

Still a bit annoyed at the place he was forced to choose, Gangrel stopped to look around, searching for an empty table that he could use without having to share with anyone else when a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Carla! Fill the mug! I'm bored! And can't get up!"

Instinctively, the former Mad King turned his face to where the sound came and saw a drunk Morgan holding a mug above her head and shaking it with a silly smile.

" _What is she doing here?"_ he scornfully asked himself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I just realized Dark Knights can't use Dark Magic!" the girl dumbly yelled something she already knew like it was the discovery of the century. "What a loathsome bullshit! Why are they called Dark Knights, then?! Did they just want a… 'Hic!' Badass name? Because if that's the case they should have chosen a name that doesn't… 'Hic!' Mislead people! If they wanted a badass name they should have called themselves… Flabby Butts! Because it's bad ass! Badass! Bad ass! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

" _She's drunk as hell… I better leave before…"_

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Gangrel, mah boy! What's up?!" Morgan suddenly said, getting up from her chair and pathetically walking like a boneless chicken straight at him.

" _Too late…"_ the man grumbled mentally.

Gangrel wondered if he could simply pretend to have heard nothing and just walk away, but when he was about to take the first step it was already too late; Morgan reached him and grabbed his hand, preventing him from moving.

"Hellooooooooooooo, Gangreeeeeeeeeeeeel!" the girl cooed with a silly smile, her mouth launching a strong smell of alcohol that made Gangrel's nose twitch. "What ya doing here? Did you come for a… 'Hic!' To have a nice meal?!"

"I DID, but changed my mind," the man grumbled irritated, trying to get free from her grasp. "Let go of me. I'm going home."

"GAH! Don't be such a jerk! Let's have some… 'Hic!' Drinks and foodies together!" Morgan said and happily dragged Gangrel to her table.

"Stop that! Let go of me!" he yelled angrily, shaking his arm in a useless attempt to escape.

Powered up by the amazing effects of alcohol, Morgan dragged Gangrel with extreme ease to her table like he weighed less than a feather and forced him to sit on a chair. The man tried to get up and leave, but the drunk girl pushed him back, nearly making the poor man fall from his seat.

"Now, we're going to eat fried chicken and… 'Hic!' Drink until our livers beg us to stop!" the Proxy screamed with determination and dumb happiness, pumping a fist in the air.

"We aren't going to do anything, because I'm not staying here with you!" Gangrel yelled furious.

"Don't be such a killjoy! I'm paying! You'll enjoy it!"

Gangrel opened his mouth to protest, but Morgan cut him with:

"You agree. Shuddup."

"Is that what the tactician taught you?" the red-haired man growled crossing his arms. "Insult, mock, be a bossy pest to your colleagues and drown your brain with beer?"

"Don't mock father!" Morgan pointed an accusing finger at Gangrel that nearly poked his nose. "He's the bestest best of the… 'Hic!' World's bests! Besides, who said he taught me this? He doesn't even… 'Hic!' Know I'm here! I couldn't tell that to him" she began laughing maniacally.

"Oh, couldn't you?" Gangrel rubbed his chin with a quirky smile. "Which means he doesn't like you to do this kind of thing, right?"

Morgan nodded stupidly.

"That's interesting…" the red-haired man grinned as a plan materialized in his head. "Let's make a deal: you leave me alone and MAYBE I won't tell your father that his sweet daughter was having a lot of fun with her 'friends' beer and fried chicken. What do you say?"

Maybe because he was expecting the girl to shudder or at least look shocked for a moment, seeing her start laughing uncontrollably to the point of making tears fall from her eyes filled him with an awkward feeling.

"Oooooooooh… trying to be bad, Gangreeeeeel? Not gonna work! No, no, no, no, nope!" the girl moved her finger from one side to another. "And you know why? Because I have a better deal for you!"

Morgan sat on her chair, approached Gangrel and whispered to him:

"If you aren't a big jerk AND don't tell father about this, I won't tell Chrom that you tried to strip his poor, defenseless sister."

Gangrel felt his jaw dropping and all the blood of his face disappearing.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Morgan just gave him a cheeky smile.

"Wait a moment… that old rascal told you?!" the former Mad King of Plegia shouted.

"YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" Morgan chanted nodding her head.

An unmeasurable fury filled Gangrel's mind and made his blood boil. The stupid old man promised to keep silence about what happened, but it was clear that trusting him was a mistake.

"It doesn't matter! It was just an accident! I have no reason to worry about it!" the man grumbled irritated, turning his face away.

"It may have been just an… 'Hic!' Accident… BUT! Do ya really think that Blueberry Head will believe you?"

That was true. Not in a million years Chrom would believe it was just an accident, especially because it was Gangrel who did it. If that story spread around the Halidom, it would be just a question of time before the Exalt heard it and put the Plegian's head to prize.

Not that he really cared very much about his trash of a life, but after that… eventful afternoon with Emmeryn, he began fearing for his life (and consequently his safety) a bit more than he used to, so Morgan's threat actually made some effect.

Teeth gritted, nerves bulging and hands clenched in anger, Gangrel took a deep breath and sighed in defeat.

"Fine… I'll stay," he grumbly announced.

"Excellent!" Morgan celebrated.

In that moment, Carla passed near the two with three mugs for another client. Noticing the woman, Morgan yelled her name to call her attention. The waitress looked to the direction she was called and sighed as soon as she noticed who it was.

"Carla! Bring more fried chicken and some of your roasted sweet potatoes! And one mug of beer for… 'Hic!' This big guy here!" the girl pointed at Gangrel, who just looked away and huffed.

Carla rolled her eyes, scribbled something in a little note she had and went back to the kitchen.

"You'll see! This place's beer is the best!" Morgan said animated. "Why is it the best? I'll tell you why: it's because… I DON'T KNOW! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she then began laughing maniacally.

"Great… I escaped a needy, stubborn girl to get stuck with a drunk girl that's two times more stubborn that the previous one…" Gangrel facepalmed.

 **Training grounds, Ylisse Castle, September 25** **th** **, 9:42 PM**

After a fruitless search, Noire sat on the floor, leaned her back against a wall and sighed.

"Well, looks like I was wrong…" the girl lamented, stretching her legs and giving the training area an empty look. "She's isn't here after all. I wonder where she went…"

Surrounded by the silence and the faint light of the torches around her, Noire put her brain back to work, trying to guess where her white-haired friend could have gone. Being one of the closest people to Morgan, the young Archer knew that, whenever she got very angry, the girl would usually:

One: go to her father's office, lock the door and spend the whole night there, reading Robin's books, eating the chocolates he kept hidden somewhere or play videogames until morning;

Two: invade the kitchen and eat everything she wanted, leaving a giant mess behind or;

Three: go to the training area and explode dummies with all the kinds of tomes she had.

However, Morgan apparently had a different idea that night, as Noire couldn't find her anywhere around the castle.

She knocked on the door of Robin's office many times, but never got an answer. She went to the kitchen, ready to find lots of food and drinks scattered everywhere, but the place was empty and silent like a graveyard. She then went to the training grounds, preparing herself to see lots of fire and destroyed dummies, only to discover there was no one there.

In other words: Morgan wasn't doing any of the usual things she would do when angry, leaving Noire confused and even more worried than she already was.

"Think, Noire… think!" the girl scratched her head nervously. "Where else could Morgan have gone?"

Once again putting her neurons to work, Noire carefully began listing what Morgan liked to do, attempting to find anything that could give her a light.

"She likes to play videogame, but if she isn't doing it in Robin's office then she's doing it in her house, so I can try going there. She also likes bear meat, but I don't think that'll help much now. She also likes to tease the boys, but I doubt she would do it now. And she also likes to…"

The girl's eyes widened in horror as a thought came to her.

"Oh, no! Not there! Not THAT again!"

Determined to lose no more time, Noire got up and ran at max speed straight to where she thought Morgan was, internally hoping her guess was wrong.

 **The Golden Barrel, September 25** **th** **, 10:17 PM**

"And ya know what?! I don't give a… 'Hic!' Damn to what people say! For me, 'Ocarina of Time' is the… 'Hic!' Best Zelda ever! After that is 'Breath of the Wild'! And after that is 'Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth'! And after that is 'Ape Escape'! But the best game of all times is 'Fire Emblem Awakening'!"

"Maybe I should let her tell the princeling about the whole thing with Emmeryn…" Gangrel mumbled in annoyance, taking a small sip of his beer and wondering if living was indeed worth standing that ridiculous situation.

"Oh, boy! I just remembered… 'Hic!' A great joke! Wanna hear?" Morgan asked while turning the mug and drinking all the beer in one gulp.

"No," Gangrel answered annoyed.

"Great! Here it comes!" Morgan proceeded to tell the joke nonetheless. "A Risen sees a banner promoting an election for the first president of Ylisse. He becomes a candidate and wins! What's the name of the game?"

"I don't want to know."

"PRESIDENT EVIL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

If it was possible, Gangrel would put his head inside the mug just so he didn't have to listen Morgan anymore.

"I remembered another! Wanna hear?!" the girl enthusiastically grabbed Gangrel's sleeve and pulled him closer.

"NO!"

"Great!" she celebrated, although it's unknown if she was understanding him wrong or simply ignoring his answers. "Why Ryuk from Death Note can write even in the dark?"

"I DON'T CARE!" the red-haired man yelled angrily while trying to get free from the girl's grasp.

"BECAUSE HE'S ALWAYS NEAR 'LIGHT'! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"This must be divine punishment for all the crimes I committed, because there's no way this girl is anything but a DEMON!" in a desperate attempt to not hear anything else, Gangrel began slamming his head on the table, hoping to fall unconscious and spare him of more alcohol filled nonsense.

If you think the owners and workers of the pub allowing Morgan to be so loud and Gangrel to spank himself when they had clients was weird, then you would be completely right; the only reason they allowed is because, at that point, the drunk girl had already scared everyone else, leaving only the two.

Why they didn't kick the two out? Because Morgan was one of their most loyal customers and Gangrel was with her.

"Carla! Another… 'Hic!' Two mugs for us!" completely unaware of her 'friend' trying to kill himself, Morgan called for the waitress, ordering even more beer.

With an annoyed sigh, Carla left the game of cards she was playing with her colleagues, went to the kitchen, filled two mugs with beer and took them to the Proxy and her companion. However, before leaving the mugs on the table, she gave Morgan a stern look and warned with a serious tone:

"You already drank thirty-six mugs. Not to mention the bottles of whisky and vodka you ordered a bit ago."

"Worry not!" Morgan grabbed both mugs completely unconcerned. "I can take it! My second name is 'Iron Liver'! And my…"

"First name is 'Invincible' and your last name is 'Terrance, the Talking Stroganoff'. I know, I know… your father always said that whenever he got drunk here…" Carla rolled her eyes.

Surprised by what he heard, Gangrel stopped slamming his head on the table and asked the waitress with intrigued eyes:

"The tactician? Does he drink?"

"Drink?" the waitress laughed, getting back to her chair. "He doesn't drink; he literally drowns himself in alcohol."

Gangrel was about to ask something else, but was interrupted by Morgan slamming the mug she emptied in less than ten seconds on the table.

"AAAAAAAH! THIS IS GOOD AS HELL!" the young Proxy yelled, feeling the alcohol filling her body and running through her veins.

The girl yelled so loud her voice escaped the walls of the pub, echoed in the street and reached the ears of a white-haired Archer approaching the place.

"Oh, no… she's there," Noire lowly lamented, speeding the pace to get in the pub as fast as possible.

Arriving at the Golden Barrel, Noire opened the door and spied inside, getting a bit surprised at how empty the place was. A bit more of scanning later, her attention quickly changed from the number of vacant chairs to a familiar figure with a stupid smile shaking a mug over her head with one hand and pulling the sleeve of someone faceplanted on the table with the other.

"Morgan!" Noire gasped worried and ran to her friend's side.

"Uh? Oh, Noireeeeeeeeeeee!" Morgan hummed with a large smile. "So good to see… 'Hic!' You again! Came here… 'Hic!' To enjoy the party?!"

"Kill me…" Gangrel, still faceplanted on the table, grumbled lowly.

"Gods! What did you do to yourself?!" the Archer said, voice filled with worry and despair.

"What did she do to herself? You should be asking what she did to ME!" Gangrel complained.

Noire took the mug from Morgan's hand and freed Gangrel from the girl's grasp, then carefully made her friend stand up to take a better look on her.

"Oh, Morgan… Look at you!" she checked the girl's condition and got worried. "Your hair is a mess, your clothes are an even bigger mess, you're smelling like Vaike in Chrom's wedding, there are bits of fried chicken on your shirt…"

"AAAAAAAAAH! Don't worry! I don't have to worry about it!" Morgan shook a hand dismissively. "And you… 'Hic!' Know why? It's because…"

A wide smile appeared in her face as she suddenly sang:

"I take a look at my enormous PEEEEEEENIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"

"Morgan! Don't say that!" Noire shook her hands desperately, her cheeks turning a deep red.

"You don't even have one…" Gangrel added in a low tone.

"Be quiet!" Morgan ordered. "You're just jealous because I take a look at my enormous PEEEEEEEEEEEENIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!" she began singing again.

"Dear gods… How much has she drunk this time?" Noire turned to face Carla, who was back to her game of cards.

"Thirty-six mugs of beer. Plus one bottle of whisky and one of vodka," the waitress answered without taking her eyes from the cards in her hands.

"Thirty-six and two bottles of what?!" the Archer repeated incredulous.

"Uh… wouldn't it be thirty-seven?" one of Carla's colleagues asked.

"Oh, right. Thirty-seven, to say the truth," Carla corrected.

Noire's jaw dropped so much it risked breaking.

"And why didn't you stop her?!" she inquired a bit angry.

"She's the client. I have to do whatever she wants even if I don't agree," Carla retorted unconcerned. "Besides, I warned her. If she didn't want to listen, then there's nothing I could do."

"And you, Gangrel?! Why didn't you do anything?!"

Hearing his name being suddenly mentioned made the man snap out of his misery and shot a heated glare at the girl.

"Do I look like her babysitter to you?!"

For a moment, Noire nearly entered her maniac mode, furious at everyone's negligence, but took a deep breath and controlled herself. That wasn't the time nor the place to start an argument; Morgan needed help and quickly.

"Come on, Morgan. I'll take you back home," the young Archer gently grabbed her friend's hand.

"Don't worry! I can go home by myself!" Morgan said confidently, freeing her hand from Noire's and walking away to the door. "Let's go home have more girl fun! Let's goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…!"

That was the last thing Morgan had time to say before tripping and falling faceplanted on the floor.

"Morgan!" Noire ran to the girl's side and kneeled worried. "Are you okay?!"

"Heeeey! Who put this… 'Hic!' Floor here?!" the drunk girl asked irritated.

Sighing, Noire grabbed Morgan's hand again, helped the Proxy get up, passed the girl's arm around her shoulders and slowly walked to the door, holding her friend and keeping her balance.

"I'll make sure you'll be paid," the Archer said to the workers playing cards.

"Don't worry. I know Morgan will come to pay later," Carla reassured, still focused on her game.

When they were to pass the door, Morgan looked back to face Gangrel and gave him a wide smile.

"Thanks for everything, Gangrel!" she said loudly. "I know we don't… 'Hic!' Get along all the time, but know that you're very dear to me! No matter what happens, you'll always have a special place right here!" the girl then pointed to her heart.

"Sure, sure…" the man grumbled unconvinced. "You're saying that only because of the alcohol. I doubt you really mean it."

In truth, that was one of the only things Morgan said after getting drunk she had total consciousness of what she was doing.

 **Robin's house, September 26** **th** **, 7:23 AM**

"Ugh… What happened?" Morgan grumbled holding her head and opening her eyes. "Am I home? How did I get here? Oh, yes… Noire took me."

She tried to take a sitting position, but suddenly felt a strong headache and decided to stay lying on her bed.

"Damn… stupid hangover…" the girl complained rubbing her forehead with both hands. "Why this always happens to me? It never happens to father or mother…"

That statement wasn't completely right; although it was true that Aversa never had a hangover before, it was mostly because she never drank enough to have one. Robin did have a few, but the symptoms on him weren't the same most people would have, so Morgan never noticed.

Still unwell, Morgan remained in bed for some more minutes until she felt good enough to get up and went to the kitchen at slow paces look for something to eat. After some search, she got a bread and a glass of water and sat on the table to have breakfast.

" _Not exactly what I call a good breakfast, but I don't think it's a good idea to stuff my stomach too much right now…"_ she thought, feeling like there was a knot inside her belly.

Slowly munching the bread, Morgan tried to remember the events of the previous night without forcing her pained head too much. Little by little, small pieces of the happenings began playing in her mind like shattered memories long forgotten returning.

The night in the pub, Gangrel at her side, Noire coming, the trial, everything Seiji said… her argument with Lucina.

That last memory was better forgotten, but trying to recall what happened to her accidentally brought it back, making Morgan sigh irritated and unconsciously rub the same cheek Lucina slapped her. It wasn't hurting anymore, but a faint tint of red was still visible on it.

" _Stupid girl… stupid, selfish, stubborn girl…"_ the Grandmaster's daughter angrily insulted. _"I spent all that time trying to help her to be rewarded like that? Ha! No wonder father is always complaining about something related to his job! I would be very pissed if I had to work for that… bunch of ungrateful royal asses every single day!"_

With a huff, she gobbled down the rest of her bread and drank all the water at once.

" _You know what? Lucina can go screw herself as much as she wants! That's what she deserves!"_ Morgan used the back of her hand to clean the mouth. _"I don't care about that bitch anymore!"_

…

" _Awww… Who am I trying to fool?! I love that bitch! I can't abandon her even if I wanted!"_ in a mix of irritation and disappointment, Morgan put both hands on her head and leaned back on the chair. _"But what am I supposed to do if she doesn't tell the truth?!"_

With her wills and feelings conflicting, the poor girl was left without knowing what to do. Her mind screamed for her to help the princess, but in their current situation that seemed completely impossible.

Trying to get her mind away from all those problems, Morgan went back to her room and grabbed her smartphone, which Noire took from her pocket and left on the desk the night before, to see the time and maybe play some games or search for a way to get her Nintendo Switch out of the customs, but a notification of three messages got her attention and made her immediately leave all her plans aside.

The most recent message was from Maggot, sent to her the night before at ten forty-six. Since it was the one appearing at the top of her list, she decided to read that one first.

"Madam, we went to the Ylissean Court after you and your friends told us what happened. Please, don't worry about my previous message; go back home and rest. Come to speak with us at the Secret Service HQ whenever you're feeling better."

At least Maggot was nice enough to give her a rest, but what was that previous message he sent?

Morgan returned to the previous menu and searched for anything sent by Maggot. Immediately, she saw a notification of a message sent by the man at eight fifty of the previous night and opened it.

"Madam, the DNA tests were done and the results are quite unexpected. Please, come to the HQ as soon as possible."

Unexpected? What did it mean? What could they have discovered that needed her to see it by herself?

Despite her body protesting, Morgan quickly changed clothes, washed her face, got her Levin Sword, a Thoron Tome and left in a hurry to the Secret Service HQ, wondering what the Elite Trio wanted to tell her.

The sudden need to know what happened was so big that she accidentally forgot her smartphone on the desk, a notification of an unread message from Brady in the screen.

 **Meal room, Ylisse Castle, September 26** **th** **, 7:36 AM**

Lucina was silently sitting at the large table, constantly gazing at the clock and shaking her leg impatiently. In front of her, fruits, breads, sweets, cakes and other foods of delicious appearance waited to be devoured, but the princess couldn't find the will to eat anything.

She had something much more important to do than eating: she had to plan what to say to Morgan.

Another quick look at the clock revealed it was seven thirty-eight, which meant she still had some time to plan her apology. Morgan usually arrived only at eight forty, since her duties started only after nine, but since she was replacing her father as the Grandmaster, she had to arrive earlier than that, as Robin's duties started at eight.

Of course, because she was working as Lucina's attorney, Morgan gained the luxury of not having to do the Grandmaster's duties while she was working in the case, which allowed her to run the investigation the day before instead of taking care of her father's responsibilities.

Which also meant that she could make an excuse not to appear at all.

Concerned, Lucina took another glance at the clock; not even a single minute had passed since the last time she looked at it, despite it feeling like an hour for the princess.

That was killing her. The more she had to wait, more she sourly remembered what she did and more the regret mercilessly crushed her. Morgan wasn't an angel (nobody is), but despite her peculiarities and inconvenient habits she was a good friend. Whenever she needed, whenever anyone needed, Morgan would always be nearby to offer a hand and wouldn't measure efforts to do anything.

And yet, after everything she did for her not only in the case, but before that as well, Lucina had the courage to hurt her.

Just apologizing didn't sound enough; Morgan deserved much more, she wanted to show that all her efforts were valued and that she would always be grateful no matter how many times they argued before, but Lucina couldn't think of anything up to that.

The only thing that came to her mind was doing what Morgan asked and tell her the truth, but that was completely out of question.

It was too shameful. It would ruin her reputation. It would fuel all the ill rumors spread across the Halidom about her even more.

Above everything else, it would disappoint her parents.

Not exactly because it would humiliate or hurt them, but because it meant Lucina broke a promise she made.

 **Ylissean Secret Service HQ, September 26** **th** **, 8:13 AM**

"Here, this tea will help alleviate the nausea," Maggot said with a caring voice, handing Morgan a cup of tea.

"Thanks…" the girl weakly thanked, grabbing the cup and taking a sip of the warm liquid.

"Not gonna lie, boss, you're looking very bad," Tick admitted scratching the back of his head. "But considering how much you drank, it's very impressive that you can still stand up without help."

"Heh… I'm the daughter of Grandmaster Robin and Pegasus Knights Captain Aversa. I can't let some…" the sentence was interrupted by a cough. "Drinks get the better of me."

"Sad that Shorty doesn't have the same resistance as you," Tick whispered pointing to the boy faceplanted on a table behind him.

"I heard you…" Flea grumbled holding his stomach.

Seeing the boy remembered Morgan he had a date the night before and provoked her curiosity to know what happened, but her mind quickly warned her to concentrate on what was important and leave that for later.

"Maggot, I saw your message a bit before I left home," taking another sip of the tea, the girl turned to face the man. "What did you discover?"

Maggot turned around, walked to a table, got some papers from it and returned.

"We purified the fur we found to get rid of the human genetic material and repeated the tests, expecting to have a different result, but…" he handed the papers to Morgan. "They didn't change at all."

"What?" Morgan inquired loudly, which made her head hurt a bit.

"The human genetic material isn't ours, it's from the fur," Maggot proceeded to explain. "All the tests we made after the purification prove it."

"Are you sure?" the girl stared incredulous at him and began reading the papers she received.

"Totally. We made many tests and purified the fur more than once to make sure we weren't wrong. The results were always the same."

"So, who left it is a human?" Morgan asked confused. "It isn't fur, but hair?"

"That's what intrigued us," Tick approached them and entered the conversation. "It has human genetic material, but we also found traces of something completely different."

"Of what?"

"We don't know," Flea muttered weakly. "That other DNA we detected isn't compatible with anything we have documented before. The only thing we could discover is that fifty percent of the material we extracted is formed by the unknown DNA and the other part is made of human genetic material."

"Only fifty percent?" confused, intrigued and perplexed, Morgan put the papers down and stared blankly at the table. "Half human and half… something? What on Earth…?"

" _Wait just a second…"_ she began musing. _"Fur… half human… big as a bear… physiognomy that reminds a wolf… paw marks like a… RABBIT?!"_

The results, the testimonies, what she knew about the mysterious animal… Everything began falling into place.

She knew what, or better saying, who it was.

And if HE was there, in that place, at that time, it could mean only one thing:

That long eared bastard lied to her.

"YAAAAARNEEEEEEEEEE!"

 **Meanwhile…**

"Ugh…!"

"Yarne? What's wrong?" Laurent asked the Taguel, noticing how he suddenly stopped in place and trembled his whole body.

"I… I'm not sure… but, for some reason, I suddenly had the feeling…" Yarne felt a chill running down his spine. "that I got myself in trouble."

 **Back to the Secret Service HQ…**

"I shouldn't have screamed so loudly…" Morgan lamented, feeling her head hurting because of her own shout.

"I agree…" Flea painfully added, also feeling like his boss's yell exploded his head.

"Yarne? The Taguel boy?" Tick asked. "Do you think he's the creature?"

"I don't think, I'm totally sure!" the girl angrily affirmed. "It all makes sense. Yarne, being a Taguel, can use Beaststones to transform. His transformation matches with everything we know about that animal."

Morgan took a better position on her chair and began listing the characteristics that matched.

"He looks like an overgrown rabbit, big like a BEAR. However, his body is very slim like a WOLF. Even his paws have the right size. However, like I said before, he's an overgrown RABBIT, which means his paws probably have a format that matches with one."

Maggot, Tick and Flea gave it some thought and nodded.

"More than that," Morgan crossed her arms. "The trail of paw marks starts in the road, but from that point on there are only marks of chariots, domestic animals and PEOPLE. When not transformed, Yarne is a PERSON, which means he could very well have gone to that place as a person, then transformed after that. It would explain why the paw marks start at the road, but aren't in it."

More nods.

"And that's not all," she continued. "Yarne told me he cancelled his appointment with Nah because he had a date to go in the night the crime happened, but didn't tell me WHERE it would be. The guards also don't know where he was and it automatically means his location at the time is UNKNOWN, turning possible that he was there!"

"But if he had a date, why would he be in that place? I doubt he would meet a girl somewhere so far away from the village," Tick commented intrigued, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't think he had any date to go," Morgan said. "Not only because of that, but also because of the situation. I mean, do you remember what people said about the second flying creature seen that night? It looked like a wyvern and was chasing that 'mysterious' animal. Who we know that looks like a wyvern, or at least can look like a wyvern sometimes, and would have a reason to chase him?"

The three men became quiet and wondered for a few moments, widening their eyes as the answer came to them.

"The Manakete girl?" Tick voiced their thoughts.

"The one and only," their boss confirmed. "At first, one could imagine Nah was trying to get revenge for what happened to her, but after connecting all these points I noticed a small detail I failed to see before: if it was indeed what happened, then why nobody except Yarne, Nah and me know about it? I mean, do you really think Nah would accept that he simply put her aside to go with someone else and tell nobody, not even Lucina or her parents, about it? After being the jerk he was?"

"Now that you mentioned," Maggot rubbed his chin thoughtful. "both were missing the night Nikolai was killed, which means they weren't in Ylisse Castle neither in the village. If they're the mysterious animal and the unidentified flying creature, it means they were close to that road near Ever Woods when the crime happened. Few people go there at night, which would explain why nobody knew their location or why they began acting weird in the following days."

"And, as surprising as it may sound, even that intriguing DNA test strengthens my suspicions," Morgan said with a serious tone and looked at the papers Maggot gave her. "The results confirm the fur is fifty percent human genetic material and fifty percent of something we never documented. Yarne is half human and half Taguel and, coincidentally, Taguel DNA is something we DON'T HAVE DOCUMENTED IN OUR ARCHIVES BECAUSE WE NEVER EXTRACTED TAGUEL GENETIC MATERIAL BEFORE! Until Panne appeared, the Taguel were thought to be extinct and since she and Yarne are the presumably the only ones left AND are under the Shepherds guard, we never bothered to collect their DNA."

Maggot silently thought for some seconds before reaching to a conclusion.

"If Mr. Yarne is the mysterious animal seen that night, then it's very likely he's the creature Mr. Henry and Ms. Lucina heard running in Ever Woods, which means…"

"He was nearby when the crime happened, thus turning him a witness," Tick finished for the man.

With a scowl, Morgan nodded, leaned against the chair and crossed her arms again. In the end, Yarne not only lied to her, but also hid being a witness. If he gave his testimony, it could be used to further prove the truthfulness of Lucina's testimony and of the others as well, but instead, he kept everything to him.

The boy lying so shamelessly was very out of his character. He doing something that could be harmful for Lucina was even more out of his character.

What could he be hiding that was worth not helping the princess?

"Everything you said makes sense, boss," Flea weakly turned his face to Morgan. "but, despite how much sense it all makes, we need concrete evidence to prove that, otherwise it won't be accepted in court."

"I know…" Morgan sighed. "I need a way to prove Yarne is the creature and that he was in Ever Woods or I won't be able to summon him. The judge won't be convinced by sightings of an animal that COULD be him or a DNA result that says half of the material found is UNKNOWN. I need something irrefutable."

"Something to connect him to the animal… Let's think…" putting a hand on his chin, Tick turned around and began thinking.

The room was filled with silence as the Elite Trio and their boss began mentally replaying and analyzing everything they knew to find any detail or fact that could connect the young Taguel to the animal seen during the night of the crime.

Well, at least Maggot and Tick were, as both Morgan and Flea were forced to stop thinking when a strong headache, side effect of all the alcohol they ingested the previous night, hit them like a cart filled with rocks.

" _Ugh… What am I doing? What's the point of looking for something that connects Yarne to the case anyways?"_ Morgan internally groaned, burying the face in her hands in sudden irritation and disappointment. _"It doesn't matter… If Lucina keeps lying, everything else I discover will be useless. It's very likely that she'll be arrested for forging a false testimony even before I can discover what really happened!"_

With the headache now mercilessly torturing her, the young Proxy held her head with both hands and laid it on the table, her left cheek touching the old wood.

" _I can't understand why everyone is lying to me! What the hell is Yarne hiding that's worth harming Lucina's case? And what is that girl hiding that's worth all this mess?!"_ if the Elite Trio wasn't nearby, Morgan would have started to hit her head on the table. _"Why is everyone doing it?! I just want to help them, but they keep making my job harder!"_

Morgan clenched her fists in frustration and let out a loud, angry sigh.

" _How am I supposed to help them if they don't help me?!"_

" _Simple. Don't help her. Let the princess do whatever she wants, however she wants, as many times she wants. Lucina is an adult. It's her right to do whatever comes to her mind and her obligation to_ _ **stand the consequences."**_

Suddenly, Aversa's words echoed in her mind, like trying to make Morgan notice something.

" _Stand the consequences…?"_ for some reason, that part caught the girl's attention much more than all the others.

What was the reason? She didn't know yet, but it surely was a good one because, the more she repeated these words in her mind, the more her brain slowly brought back fragments of the conversation she had with her mother.

" _Think a bit, Morgan. Why would the princess be so determined to hide something to the point of lying in court?"_

" _Well… Considering everything I know about Lucina it may be because she believes 'it's for the greater good and to keep order' like when she lied about being Marth."_

" _Or…?"_

"Or…?" Morgan repeated in loud voice without noticing.

"Huh? My apologies, Madam. I didn't understand you," Maggot asked turning to the girl.

Morgan didn't answer; she didn't even hear Maggot speaking. Her mind was too focused on the memories to notice what was happening around her.

"Madam?"

" _The princess may not be convinced or arrogant like most aristocrats or high society people,"_ Aversa's words continued playing in her head. _"but she's still a member of the royal family, which means she has a reputation to watch over. In my sincerest opinion, I think the only reason she would lie in court is because…"_

" _It could seriously damage her image."_

" _Or maybe she's just embarrassed to admit whatever she did."_

"Embarrassed?" Morgan repeated.

" _YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"_ a segment of what Lucina said the night before suddenly popped up. _"THAT WOULD DESTROY MY REPUTATION! THE REPUTATION OF MY FAMILY! IT WOULD CAUSE TROUBLE TO EVERYONE, EVEN TO R…"_

" _Hurt her reputation…"_ something tingled in the back of Morgan's head. _"She's embarrassed of it, that's why she doesn't want to tell me or her parents to know, but she also said it could hurt her reputation. She's considered practically an angel to everyone, so what could hurt her reputation so much she would fear revealing it?"_

" _She's giving even more fuel to all the ill rumors about her!"_ her own words sounded loudly inside her ears.

" _The ill rumors? But all bad rumors about her were proven wrong. Unless…"_

Light bulb.

"I think the boss had an idea," Tick suddenly commented after noticing Morgan's expression changing from contained anger to incredulous realization.

"I had, and if it's right, I already know what Lucina is hiding. I need proof, though" the girl said with a serious tone then turned to face Maggot. "Can you teleport me somewhere?"

A bit surprised at the sudden request, the oldest man blinked his eyes a few times before shaking his head to recover composure and answered:

"Sure, it wouldn't be a problem," he announced politely, but gave Morgan a curious expression. "And, please forgive my manners, but may I know where and why?"

"Trust me, Maggot," Morgan put a hand on her forehead and shook her head. "If it's what I'm thinking it is, you better see it for yourself."

 **Training grounds, Ylisse Castle, September 26** **th** **, 9:03 AM**

If not for Cynthia and Owain constantly shouting their 'trademark moves' names and saying something about warriors, heroes or killing evil beings every minute, that would be a relatively quiet morning in the castle.

Aside from the two already mentioned children, Kjelle, Laurent, Gerome, Inigo and Noire were also there, the first three listening the Archer narrating the previous night and the Wyvern Rider quietly training with his princess.

"I never expected to see her like that again…" Noire lowly said with a voice sadder than her usual. "The last time she got so drunk was after Robin sacrificed himself to kill Grima and we didn't know if he would return."

"Which means she was very upset," Laurent added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Or angry," Kjelle added, to which everyone worriedly nodded.

"My poor Morgan…" Inigo lowly lamented. "I should be there with her! Why no one told me you were going after her?!"

"Because it wasn't necessary, you dumb," Kjelle huffed at the boy. "Besides, if you wanted so much to go after her, why didn't you just do it instead of lying on the floor like a boneless chicken?"

"It wasn't my intention!" the Mercenary shot back, his cheeks red like Cordelia's hair. "I was going to follow Noire when my legs failed me!"

Indeed, Inigo planned to look for Morgan too, but after hours of fixing the toilet wall (which he still didn't know why he had to do, by the way) his legs simply stopped working when he tried to run after Noire and fell faceplanted on the floor of the Ylissean Court. Fortunately for him, not many people noticed that.

"Maybe it was for the best, though," Kjelle suddenly said with an annoyed expression. "After all she had to go through, the last thing Morgan needed was your philandering."

"Why does everyone think I only want to do that?!" Inigo loudly complained, feeling irritated and slightly offended. "Is it so hard for you guys to understand that I really lo…"

"Excuse me," a voice suddenly cut the conversation, prompting everyone to look at whoever spoke.

It was Lucina; a very worried looking Lucina.

"L-Lucina?" Noire immediately noticed the princess's worried expression and became a bit nervous.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I have to ask…" in hesitation, her voice failed for a moment. "if someone has seen Morgan today. I need to speak with her."

The question made everyone, even Owain and Cynthia, give the princess an awkward look.

"Lucina, not wanting to be rude or inconvenient, but…" the princess's cousin scratched the back of his head nervously. "Wouldn't it be better if…"

"No, it wouldn't," Lucina cut Owain with a serious, stoic tone. "I need to speak with her as soon as possible."

Everyone turned their faces away.

"What's wrong?" the blue-haired girl felt her nerves tensing at her friends' sudden silence.

No words were said for a few moments, filling the training grounds with an uncomfortable silence. In the end, Noire couldn't stand it anymore and decided to tell Lucina what she witnessed the previous night.

"Lucina, after the trial and… you know what," the girl seemed a bit unsure on how to touch that subject. "Morgan went straight to a pub and consumed all the alcohol she could until getting completely drunk."

Lucina gasped in shock.

"When I found her, she barely understood what she was doing," the Archer reluctantly proceeded. "I took her back home and left her in bed. She must be having quite a hangover right now…"

"B-but…! Is she…?! Can Morgan…?!" at a loss of words, Lucina darted her eyes everywhere unsure of what to do. "I have to go see her!"

"You better not."

Everyone looked a bit surprised at Laurent.

"E-excuse me?!" the princess asked incredulous.

Sighing, Laurent adjusted his glasses and explained:

"As much as you're worried about Morgan's condition, visiting her now is a bad idea. If she consumed the amount of alcohol Noire said, then she must be suffering severe side effects. It's very likely that she must be in a very bad mood right now."

Lucina got ready to argue, but Laurent quickly cut her and forced himself to say:

"And I don't think Morgan will speak with you while having a hangover after what happened yesterday."

Lucina immediately flinched. That statement felt like a heated blade cutting through her chest, impaling her heart and roasting it to ashes.

And the worst part was that Laurent was right. If Lucina couldn't forgive herself for what she did, then how, or even worse, why would Morgan do it? Which reason she had to accept Lucina's apologize?

"I… I see…" filled with a feeling of uselessness and a crushing regret, Lucina looked down. "W-well… in this case I will… do something else and… wait for her to… to…"

She couldn't find the words to finish the sentence; just turned around and left with hurried steps. Everyone looked at the leaving princess with pained expressions, knowing how much she blamed herself for what happened. Seeing Lucina so hurt was torturing to them, but in their current situation there was nothing…

"Uh, excuse me," Brady's voice suddenly interrupted everyone's thoughts and made them look at him. "Sorry if I'm interruptin' something important, but have you seen Morgan?"

Raised eyebrows everywhere.

"Uh… Why do you need to speak with her?" Noire asked curious.

"N-nothing important," Brady lied, turning his face away.

Kjelle decided to ignore the clear lie and answered his question.

"No, no one has seen her today. Morgan is home recovering from a hangover and hasn't come yet."

"What?! Is she home?! But why isn't she answerin' mah calls, then?!"

"Which part of 'recovering from a hangover' you didn't get?" the Knight retorted annoyed.

"Man, what a problem! What a hassle!" Brady said exasperated, his voice revealing a faint worry. "I need to know NOW! There's no time to waste!"

With that, he turned around and ran away at full speed, heading somewhere else and leaving a group of confused people behind.

"He isn't heading to Morgan's house, is he?" Kjelle asked grumpy. "Didn't he understand that she is…"

"Hey, guys!" Severa suddenly came from nowhere and approached them. "Have you seen Morgan? I can't find her anywhere!"

Another round of raised eyebrows.

"Uh… No, we didn't see her," Noire said feeling some sweat running down the back of her head. "She's home recovering from a hangover. In truth, we just told this to…"

"Home?! But why isn't she answering my damn calls then?!"

"I've heard this before…" said an annoyed Kjelle.

"Urgh! I can't wait anymore! I need to know NOW!" Severa announced with an irritated tone and ran somewhere else.

The training grounds were filled with an awkward silence of confused people trying to understand what had just happened. Lucina they could understand, but why Brady and Severa also wanted to speak with Morgan so much?

"Why is everyone suddenly so interested in Morgan?" Inigo lowly grumbled, a faint tone of jealousy in his voice.

 **Somewhere near Aeternum Village, September 26** **th** **, 9:22 AM**

Using the trunk of a fallen tree as bench, Morgan and Maggot quietly processed the new wave of information they got, each one reacting a different way.

The oldest of the Elite Trio kept a blank stare, looking emotionless at the green hill in front of him for not knowing what else to do. His young boss, on other hand, was clearly much more affected by everything she heard a few minutes ago, covering her face with both hands and feeling a mess of feelings spiraling inside her.

On the good side, her suspicions were proven true and now she not only knew exactly what Lucina was hiding, but also why she was so determined to keep it a secret. On the bad side, her suspicions being proven true also meant the reason was unbelievably RIDICULOUS.

"Since I was hired to be part of the Ylissean Secret Service by your father, I've seen many unusual, hard to believe or weird things," Maggot commented, keeping a blank stare at the green hill. "But, without exaggeration, that was probably the most unexpected thing I've ever heard in any case I worked."

"This… is… overkill…" these were the only things Morgan could mutter to Maggot's commentary.

Once again, both fell in an awkward silence.

"Soooooo…" Maggot tapped his fingers on the left leg and spied Morgan with the corner of his eyes. "Since we already know what Ms. Lucina was doing and why she's hiding it, things should become a bit smoother for you in court, right?"

With a loud sigh, Morgan took both hands from her face and shook her head irritated.

"In theory, yes, it should make my job easier," the girl began with a scowl. "However, even though I already know the truth, I can't use it in court yet."

"Why not?" Maggot asked confused.

"Because Lucina had the 'great' idea of making up a story and claiming it as the truth," Morgan bitterly groaned. "If anyone, even me, HER ATTORNEY, reveals the truth, then her testimony will be proven false and she'll be arrested for forging and using false information in court with total awareness of this. If I plan to use in court what we discovered now, Lucina MUST CONFESS SHE LIED AND TELL THE TRUTH HERSELF."

Morgan sighed and shook her head.

"And, considering what really happened and how determined she's to keep it hidden, I don't think we can simply convince her to spill the beans just because I already know the truth," groaning, she crossed her arms. "Which completely SUCKS, because I need to use THAT to make the rest of the evidence and information I got make some sense!"

"So, unless Ms. Lucina tells what we discovered herself, revealing the truth would result in her arrestment," Maggot concluded thoughtful.

"Yes, and that's the hard part! How make her speak?!"

Thankfully, the effects of all the alcohol Morgan ingested were gone and now she could use her brain to plan something to make Lucina speak without fear of suffering excruciating headaches, although it wasn't making the process any easier.

It was extremely frustrating to have the truth at her hands reach and be completely unable to use it, but until Lucina changed her mind and confessed, that option was completely out of question.

However, despite how frustrated she was at the situation, Morgan could understand why Lucina wanted to keep what she did before going to the festival hidden so much.

Some time ago, a bit before the fall of Grima to be more specific, the Grandmaster's daughter witnessed in first hand a very unpleasant sequence of events that began thanks to ill rumors related to the princess and her personal life that deeply harmed not only her reputation, but of the whole army too. Many months and lots of effort later, all the bad stories and gossips were buried deep in the ground to rot until the end of the world, never to see the light ever again.

But then THAT happened and, unfortunately, could dig up all these stories, restarting the whole emotional and moral mess these days before the Fell Dragon's defeat were.

On top of that, it would happen when the princess was being accused of a crime during the biggest political and economic crisis the Halidom of Ylisse ever faced, which would result in even more popular dissatisfaction. What is that 'political and economic crisis' I mentioned? For now, I can't tell you, as it's another story for another day.

In that moment, what really mattered was how Morgan would find a way to make Lucina tell the truth. She knew it could have ominous effects in the long run and would be extremely harmful for both the princess's image and ego, but keeping it hidden wasn't an option.

Lucina had to tell the truth or she would lose her freedom for only the gods knew how long.

"Madam, may I suggest giving your father a call?" Maggot suddenly asked, making Morgan snap out of her thoughts. "He may give us an idea of what to do. If not him, maybe your mother could."

As tempting as it sounded, Morgan sighed and shook her head negatively.

"Asking father and mother would be a good idea, but I sincerely don't want to bother them with this," she put both legs on the tree trunk and crossed them. "They're in the middle of their honeymoon, a special time between the two. I already felt bad for calling three times this week to bother them with this case and this would be even worse."

Morgan scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"I mean, this is a very sensitive topic for the two, so I think it would be very unpleasant to hear about it during their trip."

"Uh… Well thought, madam. It wouldn't be a good idea," Maggot awkwardly agreed.

With all this said, they returned to their silence. If asking Robin or Aversa for help wasn't an option, then what could she do? Devising strategies and tactics was something Morgan loved to do anytime she had an opportunity, but due to how risky things were getting, trying to be innovative probably wasn't a safe option.

Maybe she should stick to something her parents had done before; their plans and tactics were already used and confirmed to work, so it was a good point to start.

" _Very well, lemme think…"_ the Proxy tapped a finger on her chin. _"What would father and mother do in this situation? Hum… Father would probably get everything he had and speak with Lucina or maybe find a way to use some law or article to tell the truth without hurting her case, but I don't know if I can do it. I don't remember anything in the Ylissean Law Code that could help me now and speaking with Lucina is useless. At least for ME it's useless…"_ she rolled her eyes. _"Now mother… What would mother do? If I'm having problems to make Lucina collaborate then it would be even worse to her. The two don't get along very well and I'm sure mother would…"_

" _Simple. Don't help her. Let the princess do whatever she wants, however she wants, as many times she wants. Lucina is an adult. It's her right to do whatever comes to her mind and her obligation to_ _ **stand the consequences."**_

The words that returned without warning hit Morgan like a chariot, nearly making her fall on her back.

A chariot carrying an idea.

"Uh… Madam? Did something happen?" Maggot asked with a slightly worried face, getting a few inches away from the girl.

For some reason unknown to him, Morgan's eyes suddenly widened and shone a sinister gleam, her face filled with a wide, malicious smile and some of the purple marks of the Shadowgift she inherited from Aversa glowing evilly.

"Oooooh... Yes, Maggot. Something happened," the girl said with a playful tone, turning to face the man. "Until now, Lucina has been very difficult to deal with, but that situation will be reversed."

"What do you mean?" Maggot asked, a bit unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

"I had an idea," Morgan's smile became wider. "And not only to make Lucina speak, but our little long-eared friend too."

 **Robin's office, Ylisse Castle, September 26** **th** **, 9:46 AM**

Quickly entering the office and locking the door, Morgan went straight to her father's chair and began opening drawers, looking for paper and pen. After getting them, she took the paper the man that worked in the clock tower gave her and began transcribing everything to the blank sheet.

With this done, she began to write the other facts she discovered during her investigations and pieces of testimonies that were of her interest.

As a last touch, she added some other 'extras' that would be used later to force a certain 'mysterious animal' to open his mouth and connect the facts together.

Everything finished, she put the pen down and looked at her creation. The result was so beautiful she nearly shed a tear out of pride.

It was the physical incarnation of the most daring, complex and malicious plot against someone she ever made in her whole life.

" _Mother would be SOOOOOOOOOO proud!"_ she silently praised herself.

Carefully folding the paper and putting it in her pocket, Morgan then opened the drawer at her right, looking for something very specific.

"I know father had one here," she muttered to herself. "Where could it be? Aha!"

Having found what she wanted, Morgan victoriously grabbed and hid it inside her coat, giggling evilly in the process. Now that she had everything needed and with Maggot back at the HQ to tell her orders to Tick and Flea, the young Proxy could proceed to the next step of her plan.

By the way, to avoid being bothered by anyone (and because she wanted to stay away from Lucina at all costs for more than one reason), Morgan asked Maggot to teleport her to the corridor closest to Robin's office, so she could get there without anyone noticing.

"Oh, my little friends… you must be boasting yourselves so much for fooling me, but be careful! I discovered everything and I'm more than ready…" a wide, diabolical smile appeared in her face. "To payback. Kya hee hee!"

To celebrate her newly made 'evil' scheme, Morgan happily got up, walked to the bookshelf and took some books from place, revealing a shiny crystal pot filled with chocolates of all sizes and shapes. She eagerly got it, removed the cover and began searching for her favorites.

A bit of search here, a bit of search there, a bit more of search somewhere else… and her smile was replaced by an annoyed frown.

"Come on! Where are the ones filled with cherry liquor?"

Morgan shook the pot a few times, her eyes carefully scanning its inside after her desired sweets. Some insistent shakes later, one small cherry liquor filled bonbon shyly popped among the other chocolates.

"Only one?! What the hell?! It's not possible!" she grabbed the chocolate and frowned her brow. "There should be at least five here! I know it! I remember seeing five when I got some after… leaving… the folder… here…"

The girl stared incredulous at the chocolate in her hand as her mind processed what she said.

Since Morgan discovered the folder's theft the day before, no one, not even herself, entered Robin's office and Chrom ordered guards to keep constant patrols in the area, so there was no way someone came and ate the chocolates during that time. Not only that, but that pot was always kept hidden behind the books and Robin rarely showed it to anyone, turning its location and even its existence unknown to most people.

Even more, the sweets disappeared after she left the folder in the office. If nobody entered there until she arrived, then the chocolates disappeared after Morgan left the folder and when she discovered it was stolen.

In other words, the chocolates probably disappeared at the same time as the folder.

But if the pot's existence was unknown to most people, then how could someone enter and find it without moving anything else out of place?

In her mind, Morgan created the following scene:

Someone, who probably is a professional thief since he or she could unlock the door without leaving trails, entered the office, took the folder, found the pot, took the chocolates and left before anyone noticed. That person apparently knew the location of the folder and the pot, thus barely moving anything and leaving practically no evidence that he or she was there.

Morgan nearly slapped herself for creating such a stupid theory, but that was the only thing she could imagine. After all, if that wasn't what happened, then what had?

Sure, a professional thief that would risk leaving any clue of its presence just for candies was a ludicrous idea. Someone that knew her father's office, on top of that! No one would fit such nonsensical description!

Except…

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No! Hell no!" Morgan shook her head exasperated, nearly letting the pot and the chocolate in her hands fall. "Calm down, Morgan… You're jumping to conclusions… Don't do that… Control yourself…"

Despite trying her best to shoo the thoughts away, her brain insisted in bringing them back. Morgan felt her hands sweating and the annoying headache returning, this time with much more force than any other time before.

"No! No! It can't be! Stop thinking that!" the girl grumbled angrily to herself, shaking her head violently. "There's no way! It can't be! There's no way it was HIM!"

Or at least, she hoped there was no way.

 **Meanwhile…**

It was a slow day at the store, but her boss insisted someone should stay at the counter if a customer appeared and she ended being the 'lucky' one to do that.

Now, while all her colleagues were at the back of the store doing something, she was standing there without anything to do, watching people on the outside coming and going without stopping neither to look at the showcase.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and lowly grumbled something impossible to understand.

DING

The sudden sound of the doorbell announced the arrival of a possible customer. Only one person wasn't exactly what she wanted, but was much better than nothing.

Clearing her throat and putting a big smile in her face, she looked at the newcomer and said:

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

Slowly, a tall man of soft features, yellow eyes, refined air and deep black hair that reached his shoulders approached her. He wore very fancy clothes and had a relaxed, although a bit sinister, wide smile in his face. However, what really caught her attention was the black tattoo on his neck that looked like a bird she couldn't recognize.

"Good morning, my good lady," he bowed politely. "I am looking for a very specific product and could not find it in the other stores around here. Since this establishment was nearby, I decided to try my luck here."

"What would it be?" the woman asked casually.

"Something very special," he laughed lowly. "A box of the finest chocolates produced in Valm, using only the most carefully selected ingredients. Where I lived we used to call it by other name, but you probably know it as Black Pearls."

"Ah, you mean the Rosy Black Pearls, the bonbons filled with a mixture of cherry cream, cocoa powder and vanilla extract covered with strawberry liquor?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for," the man smiled warmly. "Would you have some?"

"Sure! We have boxes with twelve, twenty and thirty bonbons," the woman said, pointing to a stand covered with the sweets.

"Ah… I made a good choice by coming here," the man said satisfied, getting closer to the stand and carefully looking at the chocolates. "I want forty-five boxes of thirty bonbons, please."

The woman nearly fell backwards by the request.

"E-excuse me?! Forty-five?!" she asked incredulous.

"Yes, if possible," the man turned to look at her. "Would that amount be too much for you?"

"N-no! Of course not! We would gladly answer your request!" the woman quickly said, fearing to lose a potential customer. "Just give me a second! I'll get a package to put the boxes!"

"Please, there is no need for that. Some bags are more than enough," the man gently refused.

Although becoming a bit surprised again, the woman decided to just ignore the weird request and got some bags to put the chocolates inside. She went to the pile's side and began to carefully fill the bags with more and more boxes of bonbons.

"You want to ask something. I can see in your eyes," the man suddenly said, once again getting her unprepared.

"Uh…? N-no! Don't worry! I'm okay!"

…

"Huh… to say the truth, you're right. I have a question," she shyly confessed.

"Please, do not keep it for yourself. Feel free to ask," her customer invited.

For a moment, the attendant wondered if she could do it, but he did allow her to ask him what she wanted, so…

"Sorry if my question is invasive, but why do you want so many of these? I mean, they're very expensive, so most people usually buy just one or two at most. Sometimes three."

The man let out a giggle that made a shiver run down her spine.

"To be sincere, they are not for me, my good lady," he smiled widely and a malicious glow appeared in his eyes. "They are a reward for a job well done."

 **To be continued…**

 _Sometimes I feel a bit bad for putting Morgan in such a complicated situation. I mean, it looks like she can't trust anyone._

 _First Lucina, then Yarne and now… :p_

 _Well, with this part finished there's only one thing left to do and it's the author note I originally planned to make in the previous chapter and delayed. It's a bit big and I'm slightly tempted to leave it for the next one AGAIN, but I can't keep pushing it forward forever, so let's go!_

 _Author note: some time ago, in chapter 3 to be more specific, when I still commented the reviews, I promised to make Alba from Ace Attorney Investigations and Severa witnesses in the story. Unfortunately, some time after that, I ran into a problem with the plot and was forced to scrap the idea._

 _What happened? It embarrasses me a lot to say, but while I was writing chapter 5, which is the one when the investigation began, I discovered the plot had a BIG hole._

 _Like, big enough to fit two Grimas inside._

 _It was so problematic that I couldn't simply change one or two details to make it work without messing the story even more. Whenever I changed something to make one part of the story work, other two would fall out of place. If I changed something to make one of these other two parts work, then another one (sometimes one I had already fixed before) would start giving me problems._

 _I'm not good at math and even if I was I wouldn't be able to calculate it, but if I had to guess, probably 60% of the original story had to be changed or scrapped to make things work again._

 _Yes, 60% of the original concept had to be changed AFTER I started the story. You have no idea how ashamed of myself I was and still am…_

 _I didn't tell anything before because I really wanted to make Alba and Severa appear in the story and was trying to find a way to fit them again, but I couldn't do it and the part they were supposed to appear is approaching, thus why I decided to reveal it now._

 _There are many other details or things I cut, changed or added, but I see no real need to specify any other than the cancelled testimonies, so I'm saying this mostly to convince myself that it wasn't so bad after all._

 _It isn't working, by the way… :(_

 _Guys, I'm really, REALLY sorry for this. If I knew it would happen, I wouldn't have promised it before. The good side of that drastic change in the plot is that I fixed lots of problems and found a way to turn the story more intriguing than it originally was, but I still feel bad for not keeping my word._

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that my mistake hasn't brought any serious damage for the quality of the story._

 _To all you, my thanks and sincerest apologies._

 _See you next time!_


	11. Blame the Grandmaster for the Truth

_First, I would like to apologize for the terribly long and melodramatic author note I left in the previous chapter; that whole thing of having to go back on my word was bothering me for a long time and finally being able to speak about it was like taking a huge weight from my shoulders._

 _Even better: since this is officially out of the way, no more author notes like that are planned!_

 _And talking about long, this chapter broke the record of longest chapter of the story until now. Writing and revising it took a lot of time and I have been a bit busy lately, thus why I'm so late._

 ** _Important update:_** _I've been erroneously writting 'shelf' instead of 'drawer' and only noticed it now. This note was added to the chapter in October 27th, so you may still find this mistake in the story because I'll need to revise and fix all the previous chapters, which may take a good time since I'm currently working in another story and my vacations are over._

 _Apologies for the inconvenience._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own Fire Emblem or anything related to it except for this story and the characters created for it. And before I forget, anything from any other franchise belongs to their respective creators._

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 11: Blame the Grandmaster for the Truth**

 **Castle's garden, Ylisse Castle, September 26** **th** **, 10:38 AM**

The garden wasn't usually the place he would go to relax, but the flowers scent was especially pleasant that morning, which convinced Yarne to spend some time there.

Walking down the hall stretching his arms and yawning loudly, the young Taguel felt tired despite a very good night of sleep, a generous breakfast and a full morning free of responsibilities.

Why? He wasn't sure, but he had a suspicion of what it could be.

" _Relax, man. Getting so worried won't help you or anybody,"_ Yarne mentally scolded himself.

The events of the last days were mentally and emotionally exhausting for everyone, but some were suffering a lot more than the others. Lucina and Morgan were obviously the most affected of all, but Chrom, Sumia and Cynthia were surely having their own personal slice of worry.

He was in a very delicate spot as well. Keeping a secret from everyone, especially a very personal and shaming one was hard. Being forced to keep a shaming secret from everyone and having to lie to his friends about it was even worse.

But, no matter what, he couldn't let anyone know THAT. Or at least, not yet.

THUMP!

Distracted by his own thoughts, Yarne didn't notice the person going in his direction and, apparently, neither the person noticed him, which made them hit each other with a loud thud.

"Oof! Sorry, I didn't see you…" the Taguel began, but his voice disappeared and his expression froze in shock as he noticed who it was.

The other person's expression also changed as she noticed who she hit, but unlike the boy it was a face of contained anger and rancor.

"N-Nah?!" Yarne gasped, taking a few steps back.

Nah's only reaction was a furious glare.

"H-hey! What a coincidence to see…"

Without letting the boy finish, Nah turned her face away, huffed and walked past him.

"Aw… She's still upset…" Yarne let out a sad sigh.

Since the earliest days of their childhoods, the Taguel and the Manakete shared a strong friendship and spent a lot of time together, so all those good feeling being suddenly replaced by a rancorous hostility was extremely heartbreaking.

" _Stupid! Stupid!"_ Yarne mentally insulted himself while hitting his own head a few times. _"It's all your fault, you miserable coward! How could you simply run away and leave her alone in the…"_

"OOOOOOOOH! YARNEEEEEEE!" a voice suddenly called in an extremely ominous tone, making a chill run down the boy's spine.

Looking at the direction the voice came, Yarne saw a very happy Morgan approaching with her hands hidden on her back.

"M-Morgan?" the boy stuttered.

"Hey, my good friend! I was looking for you!" Morgan declared with a super cheeky tone and an even cheekier smile.

"W-were you?"

"Yes, I was!" the girl nodded slowly. "And you know why?"

"N-no…"

"Do you wanna know?"

"NO."

"Doesn't matter, I'm going to say anyways. I just asked to be polite," Morgan said playfully sticking a tongue at the boy. "It's about the… story you told me."

Yarne's whole body trembled.

"W-w-w-w-w-which s-story?"

"About you and Nah," Morgan bluntly revealed.

Yarne would surely had ran away at full speed to the farthest parts of Ylisse if his legs hadn't stopped working the moment Morgan spoke. If she returned to talk about that subject again after that other day, then only one thing could have happened:

She discovered the truth and now wanted revenge for being lied to.

"A-a-a-a-a-a-and what do y-y-you want t-to talk a-a-about t-t-t-t-t-that?!" Yarne's voice nearly failed, his body trembled out of control and sweat dropped from his face.

"I was thinking about what you said, what happened and other things like that and I just wanted…"

Yarne closed his eyes with force, fearing whatever was coming.

"To apologize."

…

"Eh?" the boy opened his eyes in surprise.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you that day," Morgan scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "You did something super bad and I won't deny it, but that isn't an excuse for treating you like I did, so… I'm sorry. Can you…" she clapped her hands together and used the most innocent look she could make. "Forgive me? Pretty please?"

For some seconds, Yarne was left completely unsure of what to do. Morgan apologizing for what she did to him was something he wasn't waiting and neither expecting. Truth be said, Yarne would never forgive himself if he really did that, so suddenly hearing Morgan asking for forgiveness was very surprising.

Surprising or not, that made the young Taguel breath relieved. It meant the truth was still safe, hidden away from anyone's eyes.

"Phew… For a moment, I thought I was screwed… I mean…" the boy quickly smiled widely and shook a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Morgan. No hard feelings. Seriously. Actually, I would probably have done the same thing to myself."

"Maybe, but I'm still feeling bad, that's why I got you…" Morgan put a hand inside her coat, took a paper bad from one of the internal pockets, opened it and grabbed an orange cupcake. "This delicious cake for you!"

The cupcake in Morgan's hands wasn't very big neither was covered with anything special (just an apparently thin layer of chocolate), but still looked and smelled very good.

"Wow… Is it for me? Thank you," Yarne shyly took the cake from Morgan's hand. "You didn't need to do that."

"Aw… No worries! It was made from the heart," the girl smiled warmly.

"Well, if this was made with so much care, then it must taste awesome," Yarne delivered the warm smile. "I'll eat it after lunch."

"No, you have to eat it now."

…

"Excuse me?" the boy's smile disappeared and was replaced with a confused expression.

"Cakes taste better when they're fresh, so you better eat it now," Morgan declared with a serious tone, taking the cupcake from Yarne's hand and approaching it to his face.

"Uh… It may be true, but I'm not hungry right now," the young Taguel gently pulled Morgan's hand and the cake away from him.

"Nonsense. If you leave it for later, it'll get cold and squishy. You have to eat it now."

All the worry Yarne felt just a few moments before returned.

"Why do you want me to eat that cake so much?" he glanced suspiciously at the girl.

"Because I made it with all the love and care of my heart," Morgan put the cake closer to his face.

"I understand, b-but can't we…"

"No, we can't," Morgan abruptly cut him. "Now, close your eyes and open your mouth wiiiiiiiiide…" she playfully hummed.

Now it was official: there was something fishy with that cake.

Could it be just one of her regular pranks or could it mean she indeed discovered his lie and wanted revenge? Whatever the reason, that cake was adulterated somehow and it would surely be painful for him in a way or another.

Maybe that orangish color wasn't carrot, tangerine or anything like that, but lots of devilishly spicy peppers she mixed with the other ingredients. Maybe the cake had a curse that would make him fart and burp nonstop for an excruciatingly long time, leaving him practically unable to do anything. Or maybe she went to one of the stables and rubbed the cake on a horse or Pegasus's butt!

Even worse: that cake could be filled with rabbit meat! That would be Yarne's worst nightmare!

"M-Morgan, I understand what you're saying, but I'm not hungry AT ALL RIGHT NOW. So, could we…" Yarne clumsily tried to step away.

"Don't be ridiculous! You don't need to be hungry to enjoy a cake to its fullest!" Morgan grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back to his original place.

"Hey! Did you really need to do that?!" the boy complained, adjusting his shirt.

"Yes, I did. Now open your mouth. It's snack time!" Morgan put the cake just a few centimeters away from Yarne's face.

"L-listen, you're sounding way too…"

"You can eat it on your own or I can force it down your throat. Your choice."

"Huh?! How can it be an apology gift if you plan to force me to eat it?!" Yarne instinctively put his arms in front of him, like trying to defend himself.

"Choose quickly. One…" the girl began counting.

"You can't be serious!" panic was clear in his voice.

"Two…"

"W-wait just a second! Let's talk like civilized…"

"And t-"

"OKAY! OKAY! I'LL EAT IT!" Yarne desperately grabbed the cupcake before Morgan finished the countdown.

He didn't want to do it; he really didn't want to do it, but in his current situation the only choices he had were eating it on his own or letting Morgan force him to do it. If he was going to suffer anyways, then he preferred to cause his own suffering than letting the sadistic daughter of the Grandmaster have the pleasure.

Taking a deep breath and gathering all the courage he could, Yarne closed his eyes and took a bite of the cake, sweat dropping from his face like a waterfall. For a moment, he thought about swallowing without chewing, but in his nervousness, he put too much in his mouth, forcing him to chew or choke.

With fear filling every inch of his body, Yarne reluctantly used his teeth on the mass of cake in his mouth, allowing the flavor to spread everywhere.

When his taste buds felt the cake, his eyes went wide open and his whole body froze. The texture, the taste, the smell… everything was reuniting and forming one single sensation that took control of his mind.

That was the most delicious carrot cake he ever ate in his whole life.

"How is it?" Morgan anxiously asked.

"It… it…" Yarne was at a loss of words. "It… it actually tastes very good!"

Morgan celebrated pumping a fist in the air.

"Yes! Father's recipe never fails!"

" _Although it's a bit surprising the cake is still good despite I forgetting it in my coat for the last three weeks…"_ the Proxy mentally commented.

"I can see why," Yarne smiled and took another bite. "It's excellent! No wonder he's the one that always cooks in your house!"

"It's mostly because mother hates to cook and father fears she may troll him if he forces her, but that's also a reason!"

"Wow… and for a moment I thought…" Yarne shook his head. "No, never mind. Thank you, Morgan. This is very good!"

"Aw… It was nothing!" Morgan said while tapping Yarne on the back.

It would usually mean nothing, but Morgan used so much force to tap him it became practically a punch, making the poor boy choke on the cake and spit some of it on the ground right in front of him.

"Hey! Why did you do that? You said you liked it!" Morgan put both hands on her hips, pretending to be offended.

"And do you… 'Cough!' Think I really wanted to do that?!" holding on his knees, Yarne tried to recover breath. "Did you need to hit me with so much force?!"

"Oh, come on! Can't you take a light tap on your back? Is it going to extinct you too?"

"Considering you did it like you were punching someone, yes, it IS!" Yarne shot back.

"Alright… I admit I may have used a bit too much force."

"A BIT?!"

"And, although it's more your fault than mine, I'll be nice and clean the mess YOU made, okay?" Morgan pointed to the chewed cake lying on the ground.

How it could be more his fault than hers was something Yarne couldn't understand (much less how she could think that), but starting another argument would lead nowhere, so he decided to just play along.

"Thank you, Morgan. You're so nice," the boy sarcastically said.

"I know I am!" the girl blinked her eyes innocently.

"Well, if you… 'Cough!' Will clean this for me, then I'll go look for something to drink. I think there's… 'Cough!' Some cake still stuck in my throat," rubbing his neck, Yarne turned around and left to look for water or anything that could solve his problem.

While the boy left, Morgan kept waving her hand innocently at him, a small smile in her face. When he got away, though, her smile disappeared and was replaced by a much more professional air.

Losing no time, Morgan took a plastic bag from her coat, a glove from her pocket, wore it, grabbed the chewed cake and put it inside the plastic bag, carefully sealing the package before taking the glove off and throwing it to the side.

"Ok, Flea. You can come now," she loudly announced.

A purplish dark cloud appeared at Morgan's side, slowly swirling up and revealing the smallest member of the Elite Trio.

"That was very clever, boss," the boy complimented.

"Thank you! Now, take this to the HQ and make the tests. Now we can discover if Yarne is indeed the animal or not, although the answer is a bit obvious by now…" Morgan smiled mischievously.

"Alright," Flea complied, taking the bag from his boss and pocketing it. "Something else?"

"Yes, there's something else I need you to do for me," Morgan turned to face the boy. "I need you to teleport me somewhere."

 **Lavender Street, North of Ylisstol, September 26** **th** **, 11:12 AM**

Being filled with stores, stalls and all kinds of merchandise, Lavender Street was one of the most active places of the capital. There was absolutely no time of the day people wouldn't be walking down and up, right and left in that small street, always looking at the showcases and wondering what to buy next.

Among the people, Morgan walked with the hood of her coat covering her face, heading to one of the most crowded stores.

The doorbell ringed when she entered, but there were so many people inside the store talking at the same time nobody noticed it. Without delay, she walked towards the counter, where a tall man around his fifty years distributed crepes to all the clients nearby. He had brown hair, a big, round nose, small black eyes, a salient belly that shook every time he walked and a wide smile. The man spoke in an animated tone and transpired sympathy.

"Excuse me," Morgan approached the counter and called for the man.

"I'm sorry, miss, but you need to wait in line," the man said without losing his smile neither the energy.

"Hey, get outta there, brat!" one of the people in line yelled to Morgan.

The girl simply shook her head and continued.

"I don't want a crepe, I just want to speak with you."

"I'm busy right now. You'll have to wait," the man delivered some crepes to a few clients.

"Is that little rat still holding the line there?!" another person angrily shouted.

"It's important," Morgan insisted.

This time, the man simply ignored her.

"Don't ya know yer place, stupid girl?!" a creepy looking guy from the line shouted at Morgan. "Who are ya?!"

With a smug smile, Morgan turned to face the man and said:

"I'm nobody important, just…"

She took a badge from the Ylissean Secret Service of her coat and revealed her face.

"Ylissean Secret Service! Everybody out!"

"Eek! The cops! We are busted!" a woman sitting on a table nearby shouted. "Everybody run for your lives!"

All the people inside the store abandoned everything they were doing and ran to the door, but due to the place only having one a mass of bodies, arms and legs desperately trying to leave allowed only one to three people escape at a time.

"No! Wait! It's not like that! I can explain!" the fat man tried to calm his clients.

In the matter of seconds, the whole store was left practically empty with only the fat man, his two employees, Morgan and a little boy sitting on a table still there.

"Hey! There's a lot more space now!" the boy happily celebrated munching his crepe.

"Thanks a lot, Morgan. You scared all my clients!" the fat man grumbled irritated, throwing the crepes he had in hand on the floor in frustration.

"Aw, relax fatso. They'll come back. They always come!" Morgan tried to cheer him up.

"Yes, they come. AFTER ONE OR TWO DAYS! Do you know what is that time without clients for me? It's loss!"

"So, uh… Does it mean we can have the day off?" one of the young employees innocently asked.

"Ugh… Yes, you can," the man sighed.

The two employees quickly took their aprons off and ran to the door with cheeky smiles in their faces.

"In my defense, it isn't my fault your store is frequented by people of dubious nature, Rick," Morgan turned to put both arms on the counter. "Besides, I came here to ask you a favor."

With a sigh, the fat man, whose name we now know is Rick, got an empty crepe and asked:

"Which flavor?"

…

"That isn't what I wanted to ask, but since you insisted SOOOOO MUCH I'll gladly accept one of strawberry!" Morgan smiled mischievously.

"Nobody insisted…" Rick rolled his eyes while he began preparing the crepe. "So, what do you want?"

"You still have contacts, don't you?" Morgan asked leaning in his direction.

"I don't work for the black market anymore," Rick announced, putting some strawberries in the crepe and covering them with chocolate. "And I don't know anything about the bows that were stolen from the arsenal near Harts Fort yesterday!"

"We know you don't have anything with the black market anymore. That's why father…"

…

"Wait just a second… What did you say about stolen bows?!"

"Ah… Nothing," Rick mentally slapped himself and extended the crepe to the girl, hoping it would make her forget what he just said.

For some tense seconds, Morgan glared at the man with suspicion.

"Just because my schedule is very tight today I'll pretend to have heard nothing THIS TIME," the girl took the crepe and munched it, making some chocolate run down from her mouth to her chin. "Back to the subject, you don't work for the black market anymore, but still have the same contacts you had, right?"

"Not all of them, but most. Why do you ask?" Rick asked leaning on the counter.

"Because you used to be one of the people that had not only the most, but also the best contacts in the Ylissean underground commerce," Morgan answered with her mouth full. "That gave you lots of excellent providers and the ability to spread rumors in impressive speeds."

"What is that? Are the guys at the Secret Service getting out of the trail of good doing and resorting to… unsavory methods?" the fat man chuckled mockingly.

"It's for a good cause," cleaning the chocolate on her chin, Morgan turned to the man with a cheeky smile. "That's why I'm resorting to it. Or are you unable to do that?"

Rick laughed loudly and hit his chest with a closed fist, making a loud sound like something hitting a rock.

"Ha! Are you kidding me? Just because I don't work with it anymore doesn't mean I got rusted! I can spread rumors faster than the plague can spread itself!"

"Excellent! That's exactly what I needed!" Morgan clapped her hands animatedly. "I want you to spread a little… story about someone I know. If you could make the whole capital know it before four in the afternoon, that would surely be very good for me."

"Tsk! Only four in the afternoon?" the man laughed. "In two hours, even the babies will know it!"

"I knew you were the right guy for the job!" Morgan celebrated, then took a small folded paper from her pocket and handed it to Rick. "This is what I want to make public. Don't lose it!"

With a convinced smile, Rick took the paper Morgan had, unfolded it and read its content. The more he read, more his smile disappeared and transformed into a perplexed expression. When he finished reading, he looked at the words another time to make sure he wasn't misreading anything and then gave the girl a confused stare.

"Really? Do you want me to spread… this?" Rick pointed to the paper in his hands.

"Yes, I do," Morgan answered finishing her crepe.

Morgan wanting to do THAT? As weird as it sounded, Rick decided not to get too deep in the subject and simply comply.

"If you say so…" Rick said scratching his head and heading to the back of the store.

With everything she had to do there finished, Morgan stretched her arms and left the store with a satisfied smile. Her plan was going very well, even better than she expected, but a quick glance at the sky showed her how high the sun was, making the young Proxy notice she lost notion of the time. It was still early, surely before midday, so being late for the trial wasn't something to worry about, but she also promised to pay everyone who was part of the investigation at three and that was something they wouldn't be very happy if she got late.

Especially Severa…

"Let me see what time is… Huh?"

Much to her surprise, Morgan put her hand in the right pocket of her coat and found nothing. She tried checking the other pockets (even the ones inside the coat), but the result was always the same.

"Where is my cell phone?" she looked around confused. "Don't tell me a cheap thief stole it when I was distracted!"

That's when something came to her mind.

"Oh, no… I must have forgotten it home when I went to the HQ," Morgan facepalmed. "Well, at least my house isn't very far from here."

With a sigh, Morgan turned around and walked down the street heading to her house. Suddenly having to go back home was a bit annoying, but her cell phone was too important to be simply left aside; Maggot, Flea, Tick or anyone else related to the case could call at any moment to give important information.

" _Well, since I'm going to get my phone, maybe I should call father and tell him the news,"_ Morgan pondered while turning a corner and leaving the street.

Curiously, she left the place in the exact moment two peculiar figures arrived near the spot she was.

"Why do you think father asked us to leave all those chocolates there?" Pear asked tilting his head innocently.

"I don't know, but what I really can't understand is why he would ask us to leave all that money too," Lime said putting both hands behind her head.

"Also, where do you think he went? He's been going out a lot lately," the young boy commented.

"Beats me," Lime answered nonchalant.

For some seconds, none of the two said anything else until Pear decided to break the silence.

"We could ask Yubari or Cherry."

"Tsk! Are you kidding me? Yubari or Cherry telling us anything?! Not even in my dreams!" Lime sourly mumbled. "Yubari is the worst! I only obey him because he's the oldest. And Cherry isn't any better. Did you see the way she likes to mess with me?! I can't understand why father keeps them as his right hand!"

"Well, they're the oldest," Pear bluntly said.

"Humph!" Lime huffed discontent. "Even if that wasn't the case, it would still be useless. Father has been keeping most of what he's doing a secret even from them. I don't know why he's being so secretive."

"Maybe because we aren't the only parts involved."

Taken aback by her brother's statement, Lime turned around and glared confused at him.

"What do you mean? There's no one else being a part of this!"

"No, there's someone else. Father just never told us," Pear said in his usual calm and emotionless tone.

"What? Are you implying father is hiding something from us?! Pff! Nonsense!" Lime crossed her arms. "Who could it be that father wouldn't tell us?!"

And, like it was the most common thing on the world, Pear simply answered:

"Mother."

The simple mention of her mother made Lime's whole body tremble.

"E-excuse me?!"

"Mother," Pear repeated. "I don't remember when, but I once heard father commenting that."

"W-what exactly?"

Pear mused for a few seconds, trying to remember what he heard.

"I'm not sure if it was exactly this, but it's something like…"

" _Can you see this, dear? Everything is going very well, even better than we ever expected. I hope you are enjoying this just as much as me."_

That was disconcerting. Lime knew her father wasn't exactly the most correct person in the world and never cared about that, but knowing what they were doing was something that had her mother's hand made a shiver run down her spine.

Of course, Lime, Pear, Cherry and Yubari deeply loved their mother and greatly missed her, but they couldn't deny she was the scariest woman they ever met.

So scary even their dreadful father once admitted fearing his wife a few times.

 **Gathering Hall of Val Habar, Outrealms, September 26th, 01:21 PM**

It was another regular day at the agitated Gathering Hall. Cookers, merchants and hunters walked from one side to another taking care of their own lives, wondering which should be the next place they would go or which quests they should take.

However, as full of interesting people and stories as the place was, our focus today is on two very specific people that were sitting at a table near the entrance and seemed to be a bit out of place there.

"Very well, let's see here," Robin muttered while looking at some papers in his hands. "This one comes from a guy that identifies himself as… Fish Head Guy?" the Grandmaster raised an eyebrow.

"Beautiful name," Aversa sarcastically commented, eyes focused on the nail she was filing.

"It says he needs fish for his restaurant, but due to recent economic problems he can't travel, so asks for someone to go get him some…"

"Forget it. The only thing more boring than fishing in this world is listening Miriel speaking," Aversa abruptly interrupted.

Although Robin remained silent, inwardly he couldn't agree more.

"There's this one too," he put the request he read aside and proceeded to the next one. "It comes from a 'Distressed Father'. He says there are groups of Maccaos around his village and they're scaring the children. Apparently, hunting twenty of them should be enough to scare the rest."

"We hunted a Hidden Haze Malfestio, a Silverwind Nargacuga and two Grimclaw Tigrex just yesterday," the Dark Flyer blew the nail she finished and began filing another. "Do you really think I would waste time with something any stupid low rank can do?"

Robin rolled his eyes and put the request aside; since they became high rank (which was a bit faster than expected from tourists, by the way) Aversa became a lot pickier about the quests they did and the equipment they had.

"This other one is from an 'Exposed Dancer', whatever that means…" the Grandmaster felt a drop of cold sweat on the back of his head. "Seems like he needs help with a Nibelsnarf that's blocking the way to his village."

Aversa gave Robin an annoyed expression.

"Alright, alright… I got it," he put the request aside and proceeded to read the next one. "This other one comes from a 'Good Spirited Hunter'. He and his friends were on an expedition when they were attacked by monsters far too strong for them to handle and they want the help of some high rank hunters to help take them down. Apparently, the monsters are three Massacre D… NO!"

Robin angrily kneaded the paper and threw it far away.

"NO! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! NO! NOT AGAIN!"

"What's wrong, honey? Are you, the man that defeated the Fell Dragon, scared of the big, bad monsters?" Aversa asked mockingly.

"If you want to know, yes, I am!" Robin crossed his arms and huffed. "And if you passed through what I did, you would be too!"

"I killed that thing in less than ten minutes," the woman retorted.

"Because I spent the previous thirty minutes spanking it like there was no tomorrow!" Robin shot back.

"Exactly, I did in ten minutes what you couldn't in half an hour," Aversa stated with a cocky smile.

The Grandmaster wanted to argue back, but couldn't find anything good enough to counter his wife's statement and simply facepalmed in defeat.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

A loud sound echoed in the Gathering Hall coming from Robin's left pocket. Putting all the papers to the side, the Grandmaster took his phone and looked at the screen, while Aversa returned to her nails.

"Oh, it's Morgan," Robin smiled and showed the phone to his wife, who just spied it with the corner of her eyes before returning to what she was doing.

"Don't leave her waiting," Aversa said in her usual nonchalant tone.

"Sheesh… At least pretend to be happy that our daughter hasn't forgotten her old guys," Robin sighed and answered the call. "Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?"

…

"What about it?"

…

"I see…"

…

"Oh, really? That's a bit… unexpected," Robin rubbed his cheek sheepishly.

…

"You can't be serious… Really?!" he facepalmed.

…

"Great… Just great…" he shook his head.

The conversation between Robin and Morgan continued for a few more minutes, with the girl telling everything she managed to discover while her father tried (emphasis on TRIED) to digest everything. Aversa, despite looking distracted and completely uninterested, was carefully listening everything her husband was saying and glancing at him sometimes to see which expression he had.

If there was something she learned after all the time spent with Robin is that his expressions usually said much more than words could.

"I can already see the mess it's going to cause…" Robin pinched between his eyes, the simple thought of what waited for him when he returned to work making his head hurt. "Ah… Aside from that, did you discover something else?"

…

"Uh? You have a plan? And what would it be"

…

"Sorry, what did you say?" Robin raised an eyebrow with a very confused expression. "You did what?"

Robin was so busy trying to understand Morgan he didn't notice how evilly wide Aversa's smile became.

 **Robin's office, Ylisse Castle, September 26** **th** **, 03:12 PM**

Sitting on her father's chair, Morgan tapped both hands on the table, patiently waiting for Gangrel, Emmeryn, Yen'fay, Walhart, Priam, Inigo and Severa show up to receive their payments, but for some weird reason nobody appeared until then.

Even weirder was the amount of calls and messages Severa and Brady sent her while she wasn't with her phone.

Morgan tried calling them a few times, but their phones apparently ran out of battery since the calls never completed. The messages sent weren't helping much as well, as they only said the Mercenary and the Priest had something important to tell her, so she was basically left in the dark.

She also tried looking for them, but luck wasn't on her side and they were nowhere to be seen. In truth, not even the guards or her friends (at least the ones she found) were very sure of where they could be, although Noire and Kjelle commented they likely went to her house at some moment looking for her.

That's when Morgan remembered Severa was one of the people she would pay that day, meaning she would surely appear at Robin's office sooner or later. It would be the perfect time to ask what she wanted so much.

"Three eighteen… and nobody appeared yet," Morgan sighed looking at her phone.

At least it would be if the Mercenary showed up.

Yen'fay, Walhart, Emmeryn and Priam not appearing to receive the payment she could understand, since they didn't care much for money (neither needed), but Severa loved to go shopping and Gangrel never had two pennies to rub together, which meant they were the most likely to appear.

Yet, it was already nearly twenty minutes past three and the only person in the office was still Morgan.

"Maybe they just lost the time," the Proxy mused to herself.

While she waited, her eyes would glance from time to time at the bookshelf where the pot of chocolates was hidden, always making her remember what happened earlier that day. Morgan would always shake her head and turn her eyes away every time that happened, but her gaze insistently returned to that same spot.

Without evidence, there was absolutely no way to confirm her suspicions and, as such, she couldn't affirm it was HIM who invaded her father's office and took the folder.

At the same time, HE did fit everything they knew about the thief.

Experienced in the arts of thievery, knew Robin's office very well, was close enough to him to know where he would keep the folder and the chocolates pot. He would even be daring enough to risk taking some of the sweets before leaving!

Shaking her head, Morgan tried to shoo the thoughts away and looked at her phone again. It was three twenty-three.

" _I can't stay here anymore. The trial begins at four and I need to go to the court,"_ Morgan said to herself.

The young Proxy got up from the chair, gathered her things, stuffed them in her pockets and put all the paychecks destined to the members of the investigation team in the same shelf she left the folder and the Thoron tome before going to the party the Special Operation Guard and the Ylissean Secret Service held days before.

Putting something in the same shelf the folder once was sounded a bit imprudent (even idiot), but Morgan wasn't a fool and put an extra layer of defense in her father's office since the theft.

What was that defense? A special curse she made using some of her mother's spells that created a protective aura around everything in Robin's office. If anyone aside from Morgan tried to move, take or even touch anything, the unfortunate person would receive a shock equivalent to three Mjolnir tomes at once.

A bit extreme? Yes, it was, but Morgan made sure it wouldn't be fatal, just… excruciatingly painful.

And as much as she hated to resort to such radical measures that was a needed evil. After everything Morgan saw after starting to work on that case, she painfully discovered that absolutely NOBODY was trustful.

Leaving the heavy feelings aside, Morgan walked out of the office, closed the door, locked it and then left, mentally replaying her audacious plan and what she had to do in court.

No matter how confident she was, that plan was still a risky one; Morgan had to make sure she wouldn't mess anything or the results would be disastrous not only for Lucina.

Of course, that wouldn't be enough to make her give up so easily. The whole plan was a risk, no doubts about that, but it was a calculated risk. Even Robin ended agreeing it could be the only way to solve everything. It was like he once said:

"High risks may bring high rewards."

Although the most fitting line for that situation would be from Aversa, who once said:

"High risks mean high fun."

 **Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 03:49 PM**

The hall where all members of the audience, Shepherds or not, waited for the trial to begin was filled with whispers.

Everyone had at least something to say about the giant mess that case became from day to night. Rumors, theories and speculations were popping from all sides, twenty-four hours a day since the first day.

Surely that was a lot of unwanted attention for the Shepherds, but even among themselves things weren't going very well.

Not only Lucina and Morgan, the ones that should be more in synchrony than anyone else in that case, had a very ugly argument the day before, but theories and stories began appearing from inside the army nonstop, all of them related to the same unpleasant topics.

"Sincerely, do you really think Blue Jr. lied in her testimony?" Gaius suddenly asked crossing his arms. "Not that I don't trust her or anything, but what the prickly boy said makes sense."

"Ugh… I hate to admit it, but you're right," Sully sourly said. "By everything we heard, it does look like there's something off in that whole story."

"It's still early to jump to conclusions, though," Ricken commented. "We better wait and see what Morgan and Seiji will show today."

Not far from them, Vaike, Libra and Virion were talking about the same thing.

"There's no way Lucina is lying!" Vaike declared loudly. "Why would she hide something? I'm sure there's absolutely nothing she could have done in her whole life that would be worse than anything Teach has ever done!"

"Although it does show how much you trust Lucina, I don't think it was a very fortunate commentary for your reputation," Libra commented with a drop of sweat running down the back of his head.

"I also trust Lucina, but that doesn't seem to be the general opinion," Virion whispered pointing a thumb to some people behind him. "I overheard those people's conversation and it looks like they're convinced the princess's is up to something."

"Tsk! Let's see if they'll continue thinking like that after talking with the Vaike!"

Libra rolled his eyes.

"Being sincere, even I'm starting to have my doubts," Virion commented lowly.

"What did you say?! Speak up like a man!" Vaike shouted taking a step closer to the Sniper, making the blue-haired man step back.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Virion tried to explain himself. "I would never accuse anyone, especially a lovely lady, of committing a crime like lying in court, but as much as I trust Chrom's daughter I'm forced to admit something about her testimony sounds off."

Vaike got ready to argue back, but Libra was faster and spoke first.

"I believe that's what has been causing this tension between us. At the same time we don't think Lucina would do such a thing, there are strong evidence she did. Morgan's statement last night threw even more wood in the fire," the War Monk had a pained expression. "It literally divided us in the group that doesn't think Lucina is lying and the group that doesn't want to believe Lucina is lying, but suspect she is."

Vaike tried to argue against Libra, but for some reason he couldn't find the words and fell in an awkward silence.

Just a bit away from them, the 'Worried Parents' club was having a reunion.

"Where's is Severa? The trial is about to begin!" Cordelia said looking to all sides, searching for her daughter.

"Brady is also nowhere to be seen," Maribelle added with an unhappy expression. "What is that boy doing? I clearly taught him to never be late for important appointments!"

"What really beats me is why Morgan is always late!" Chrom grumbled tapping his foot impatiently. "She should be the first one to come, especially considering how Lucina is! Ugh… Robin never gets late… Why can't she be a bit more like him?"

"Remember, Chrom: Morgan is fifty percent Robin and fifty percent Aversa, and we all know how Aversa is," Maribelle commented. "Besides, the fifty percent part that is Robin doesn't make me much more comfortable."

Both Chrom and Cordelia looked a bit surprised at the Valkyrie.

"N-not that I have anything against any of them!" Maribelle blushed intensely, noticing how her statement sounded. "Morgan is a very talented, very hardworking girl, but she has some… peculiarities that can be troubling."

She looked down embarrassed.

"About Robin and Aversa, it isn't that I think bad of them. It's just that they also have some very glaring defects," Maribelle began spinning her parasol awkwardly. "Aversa proved to be a valuable, loyal member of the army, but she isn't exactly the most pleasant person to have around because of her… malicious tendencies. Robin is much better to keep nearby, but I'm forced to admit that his denseness and silliness have gotten on my nerves in more than one occasion."

That was something Chrom and Cordelia were forced to agree, no matter how much they wanted otherwise.

"Greetings, Chrom," a calm voice suddenly called from behind them.

Much to everyone's surprise, it was Yen'fay accompanied of Say'ri.

"Greetings, Chrom. Good to see you again," Say'ri greeted with a warm smile.

"Yen'fay! Say'ri! I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Chrom happily said.

"Sorry for not attending the previous days. Our schedules were a bit tight," Yen'fay politely apologized.

"Please, don't be. Having you two here now is good enough," Chrom reassured.

"By the way," Say'ri gently interrupted. "Walhart asked us to send his apologies for not coming. Seems like he had some problems of his own to solve today."

That also got everyone by surprise.

"Walhart planned to come? Really?" Cordelia asked.

"First you two, now Walhart too?" Chrom rubbed his chin. "You all are welcome, but you leaving all your duties to come from so far..."

Yen'fay gave a small smile and said:

"Well, you have Morgan to thank for this."

"Morgan?" Chrom, Cordelia and Maribelle asked in unison, which made both Swordmasters giggle a bit.

With the trial about to begin, Yen'fay and Say'ri decided to go look for places to sit and excused themselves, leaving three very intrigued people behind.

"And we were just talking about how she and her parents…" Cordelia blushed a bit. "Ugh… I feel so bad now…"

"In that case, we're two. I do believe your reasons for feeling bad are different from mine, though."

Once again, an unexpected voice suddenly echoed from behind them, prompting the three to look at whoever said it and have an even bigger surprise than before.

"GANGREL?!" they asked in incredulous unison.

"Yes, me," the man said emotionless. "Not that it really matters."

"What are you doing here?!" Chrom asked, still unable to believe his own eyes.

"I know I'm not welcome," Gangrel sneered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," the Exalt apologized.

"Hah! No need to hide anything, princeling. I wouldn't be very happy to see myself as well, unless it was for my funeral," the former Mad King commented in self-depreciation.

Chrom tried to reason, but fearing to receive a moral speech about valorizing himself like Robin would give him from time to time, Gangrel quickly cut the Exalt adding:

"Besides, it wasn't my idea to come here."

"What do you mean?" Maribelle asked raising an eyebrow.

"I mean it was HER idea," Gangrel pointed behind him using a thumb.

Just as everyone looked up his shoulder to see who he was talking about, Emmery appeared at his side.

"Hello, everyone…" she lowly greeted with a warm smile.

"Emm?!" Chrom's jaw dropped just as much as Cordelia's and Maribelle's. "What are you doing here?! I mean, you aren't fully recovered yet! You should be resting!"

"The medics said she's much better than before and that some time out of the clinic would be good for her," the former Mad King said crossing his arms.

"And, pray forgive me for asking, how do you know that?" Maribelle asked raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Before you have any ideas, we just happened to cross paths earlier today and she told me it," Gangrel shot back bluntly.

"What are you talking about?! I didn't…"

"And, for reasons I can't understand, she convinced me to join her," Gangrel finished without giving Maribelle time to finish.

"Emmeryn? Asked you to come with her?" Chrom asked confused. "And you accepted?" he asked even more confused.

"I got much more involved with your daughter's case than I wanted, be it a good or a bad thing," the red-haired man mumbled. "Thank the tactician's pest of a daughter for this."

Chrom, Cordelia and Maribelle once again were left speechless. First Yen'fay and Walhart, now Emmeryn and even Gangrel?

What exactly Morgan did was a total mystery for them, but if she managed to make even the Plegian Mad King come to give Lucina support, then it surely was something.

RIIIIIIIIING

A loud bell rang warning everyone that the trial was about to begin, prompting all the people to slowly enter the court room.

"It's starting…" Emmeryn said while grabbing Gangrel's hand and gently pulling him to the court room.

"I know where to go. Stop pulling me around," the man grumpily complained, although he didn't do anything to get free from Emmeryn's grasp.

If the Exalt, the Pegasus Knight and the Valkyrie weren't surprised enough already, that scene they just saw surely made their pants nearly fell.

"What the hell was that crap?!" asked a very perplexed (if not a bit disturbed) Chrom watching his sister entering the court room holding hands with the same person whose head he wanted on a silver plate a few years before.

 **Court room, Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 04:06 PM**

The room was filled with an extremely tense atmosphere. Absolutely nothing but suspicion could be felt and always directed at one single person: Lucina.

Saying one hundred percent of the audience thought she was lying wouldn't be right, but the truth wasn't very far from it. Counting all people present, including the Shepherds, the judge, the two guards and Seiji, the result would be around eighty or ninety percent.

Yes, even the Shepherds, the ones that believed in Lucina's innocence the most, suspected she was lying and who could blame them? If there wasn't at least something a tiny bit suspicious happening, then why would Seiji's statements make so much sense? Or Morgan and Lucina have such a heated argument the previous day?

Not that they never had heated arguments before (even Chrom and Robin were caught solving things beating the crap out of each other more than once), but it was clear that whatever happened between the two girls was much bigger than a simple disagreement.

Which made Morgan's absence even more worrying.

"Our luck is that the judges usually come only a few minutes after the trial has started to give both parts time to organize and arrive," Maribelle lowly commented to Libra. "If they came in time, then we would surely be troubled by now."

Talking about troubled, this is surely what Lucina looked to be by how much stress was clear in her face.

"Lucy, calm down," Cynthia patted her sister's shoulder. "She'll come. You'll see!"

" _I really hope so,"_ Lucina said worried to herself.

In that moment, Brady and Severa arrived and quietly went to their places at Maribelle and Cordelia's sides respectively.

"Where were you? I was worried!" Cordelia scolded her daughter.

Severa didn't answer; she just muttered a low 'I'm sorry' and became quiet, her unusual silence making Cordelia even more worried.

"You're very late, mister!" Maribelle scolded Brady, lightly pulling his ear.

"Ouch! My bad, ma…" the young Priest rubbed his ear a bit embarrassed. "I was lookin' for Morgan and lost notion of time. By the way, I didn't see her anywhere 'round. Isn't she here?"

"Not yet," his mother answered a bit worried. "She isn't the most punctual person in the world, but this is very late even for her."

SLAM

Just as Maribelle finished her sentence, the door was suddenly opened with violence, startling everyone nearby and revealing a Morgan that looked to be in a very bad mood.

"See? She arrived!" Cynthia said to Lucina trying to cheer her sister, still unaware of how bad Morgan's face was.

Instead of her usual upbeat, silly face, Morgan had an irritated, nearly ominous expression and marched down the room heading to her seat without looking to anyone or saying anything. When she arrived at her place, she roughly pulled the chair, practically launched herself on it and crossed her arms, still looking very unpleased.

Just seeing her like that made all the Shepherds extremely worried; it was a clear sign she was still upset, which meant that day's session could end in an utter disaster.

In truth, even Seiji looked a bit puzzled at his rival's unusual behavior.

"Uh… See? She's here… Hehehe…" Cynthia smiled awkwardly, unsure if Morgan arriving was such a good thing anymore.

Lucina fidgeted nervously, completely unable to choose what to do. Although she wanted to speak with Morgan and apologize for what happened, that menacing scowl was clearly telling the princess her attorney wasn't interested in talking.

So, what should she do?

"Won't you ask me why I'm late?" Morgan suddenly asked without turning to face Lucina.

"Huh? Uh… No. No need," the princess awkwardly answered.

"Why not?" Morgan shot back.

"B-because I'm sure you had a good reason."

"Is that so?"

"Y-yes…"

The air between the two girls was so heavy it could crush Grima.

"Noire told me about yesterday," Lucina began insecure, unsure if that was a good topic to start a new conversation. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, so Noire told, huh?"

"P-please don't get angry at her!" Lucina stuttered, worried to have created problems for Noire. "She just told me because she was worried about you. And…" she looked down. "I'm too…"

"Ooooh… So NOW you're worried, huh?" Morgan retorted with an annoyed tone, turning her face to Lucina and revealing a red mark on her left cheek.

The princess turned her face away and became silent, completely convinced it was a horrible topic to start a new conversation.

Lucina was so busy burying herself in guilt she didn't notice how much force Morgan was using to hold her laughter.

" _I knew that makeover would be worth the price,"_ she mentally joked.

"Everyone get up! The judge arrived!" announced one of the guards, prompting everyone to get up.

The elderly man entered the room, slowly walked to his chair, sat, looked at some papers he had and then cleared his throat.

"You can sit now," he calmly announced, making everyone sit. "Today we resume the judgment of the defendant Lucina, accused of murdering Nikolai Loss during the first day of the Aeternum Village's foundation festival. Since the defense gained the right to start the session yesterday, today the right belongs to the prosecution. The prosecution keeps its right or wants to give it to the defense once again?"

"This time, the prosecution will keep the right, Your Honor," Seiji declared getting up from his chair and walking to the middle of the room.

The already tense nerves of (almost) everyone tensed even more as the boy took position and adjusted his shirt.

The trial was officially starting and only Naga knew how good or bad that day would end.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you surely remember well what happened yesterday, but I would like to repeat some of the most important information I gave," Seiji began politely.

"Flashback…" Morgan rolled her eyes.

"Thanks to my witness, we now know there's not only a time discrepancy in the defendant's testimony, but an incoherence between what she said and what has happened as well," Seiji walked around a bit. "Since yesterday, I found even more evidence that prove there's a great inconsistency in Lucina's testimony and even witnesses to support them."

Whispers and worried murmurs everywhere. The only people that seemed fine were Morgan and a yellow eyed man in the audience.

"The first thing I would like to share with you all is about the clock issue that happened during Sapphire's testimony," the boy continued calmly. "After she told us her story, both Mark and Caroline became unsure if their clock was working properly, thus turning the testimony dubious. However, this morning I happened to meet them again and guess what?" he grinned widely. "They told me a professional looked at the clock and said it was working perfectly."

People began commenting Seiji's revelation.

"That means Sapphire and her mother arrived at the festival at seven fifty-five at most, just like they said, which also means they met Lucina there sometime before five past eight," Seiji launched a malicious look at the defendant. "Which means you didn't leave the castle at seven fifty-three like you said."

Lucina had no reaction and that made all the suspicions become bigger.

"Some of you may think 'it alone isn't enough' or 'how can you say she's lying because of an old clock' or even 'what a prickly jerk'." Seiji continued.

"The last one you guessed right," Sully sneered, cracking a small laugh from some people nearby.

"And at least for the first two you're completely right. The clock by itself is a very weak evidence to be used. HOWEVER!" the prosecutor made a quick dramatic pause. "I also got some very strong evidence that show the princess isn't just a liar, but a bad liar on top of that."

Seiji's daring accusation made most of the Shepherds got up and protest angrily. Surprisingly, Morgan had absolutely no reaction and just kept an emotionless face.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer a few times. "Mr. Seiji, please control your language."

"I beg pardon, Your Honor," Seiji apologetically bowed to the elderly man. "Proceeding from where I stopped, I also got strong evidence that reveal the princess's lie."

"And that would be?" the judge asked.

"I found two people who saw her heading to Aeternum Village between seven twenty-five and seven thirty-five ," the prosecutor revealed with a smile.

The whole room became a noisy mess. Two witnesses that saw Lucina heading to the village before the time she affirmed was incredibly troubling for her and was surely something nobody expected.

Even Morgan, completely unshaken until then, widened her eyes in surprise just like some of the other Shepherds. However, the reason she was so surprised wasn't the same as them.

Sure, two people that saw Lucina leaving before the time she said in her testimony would hurt her case a lot and was absurdly worrying, but that surely WASN'T what bothered her. What Morgan really wanted to know was where that second person came from if she only spoke about one in the letter she left for Seiji.

"HOLD IT!" Morgan spoke up. "Who are those people and how did you find them?"

For some reason, Seiji seemed a bit hesitant to answer the question.

Days before, seeing him like that would fill Morgan with sadistic pleasure, but considering everything that was happening (and the plan currently in action) his insecurity made her worried.

"What's wrong, Mr. Seiji?" the judge asked.

"Your Honor, Morgan's question has touched a sensitive subject because…" Seiji took a deep breath. "I found the two people who saw Lucina leaving the castle earlier than she says through two anonymous sources."

Anonymous sources giving information for a case? That wasn't uncommon enough to be worrying and one of them was anonymous because it was Morgan trolling Lucina, but where the hell the second one came from?

"Two anonymous sources?" the judge raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Earlier today I received two letters, both from anonymous sources, that directed me to two people who saw the princess heading to the village earlier than she claims," Seiji explained. "The first one led me to a farmer called Renato, who was in Feather Road during the night of the crime and saw a person fitting Lucina's description going to Aeternum Village. He wasn't sure of which time that happened, but he was on his way home and arrived at seven thirty-five, which means it happened BEFORE that."

People began whispering and Lucina cringed in her chair. Morgan, on other hand, crossed her arms completely uninterested on that, just wanting to hear about the other person.

"The other letter led me to a man that claims to have seem someone fitting the princess's description leaving the castle sometime between seven twenty-five and seven thirty," the prosecutor continued. "The man in question is a traveler called Yubari."

The name had absolutely no meaning for most present in the room, but Yen'fay seemed extremely surprised to hear it. Even more, if Walhart was there, he would surely be surprised as well.

"Brother? What's wrong?" Say'ri asked worried, noticing the astonishment in his eyes.

"N-nothing. Please, don't worry," the Swordmaster tried to dismiss.

Say'ri became a bit disappointed that her brother (from other timeline, but it doesn't matter much) would keep a secret from her, but seeing his reaction convinced her not to touch that subject for some time.

"Unfortunately, neither Renato nor Yubari could come to be my witnesses today, but Mr. Renato gave me some good information and a VERY GOOD description of the person he saw that night," Seiji announced with a confident smile.

"And why they couldn't come, Mr. Seiji?" the judge inquired grooming his beard.

"Renato said he had important things to do in his farm today and couldn't delay them, but offered to give his testimony in court at a later moment if needed," the prosecutor told. "I tried to convince Yubari to come, but he insistently refused and left for parts unknown."

Morgan rubbed her chin thoughtful. That was surely weird.

Someone else seeing Lucina leaving the castle wasn't impossible, but an unknown person knowing and leading Seiji to said 'someone else' in the same day she did the same thing? And the person that saw Lucina refused to appear in court and simply left like nothing happened?

Something smelled extremely fishy.

"Present here or not, they both ensured me that they saw someone fitting Lucina's description leaving the castle and heading to Aeternum Village earlier than she claims to have done so," Seiji proceeded turning to the audience. "More than that, the person used Feather Road to reach the village, which would make a trip from Ylisse Castle to Aeternum Village a bit longer than six minutes, something around ten or eleven minutes. However…" he turned to face Lucina with an evil smile. "Considering the time Sapphire and her mother met the defendant in the village and the time she was seem leaving the castle, arriving BEFORE eight o'clock is still EXTREMELY PLAUSIBLE, if not INCONTESTABLE."

People began commenting the prosecutor's statement.

"You keep saying it was Lucina who left the castle and all because someone who fits her description was there, but who knows if it was someone else?" Kjelle got up from her seat and glared at Seiji. "Just because it FITS her description doesn't mean it was her!"

All the Shepherds agreed.

"Miss, members of the audience aren't allowed to voice their thoughts or question neither the defense or the prosecution without asking for permission first," the judge said severely, which made Kjelle huff annoyed. "Besides, if there's someone to question Mr. Seiji's statement that person is Ms. Morgan."

"Very well then," Kjelle said challenging. "Let Morgan speak for me and all the Shepherds!"

Despite the girl's loud announcement, the princess's attorney remained completely quiet, rubbing her chin with a thoughtful expression in her face.

"Ms. Morgan?" the judge called.

"Uh? Yes?" the girl snapped out of her thoughts.

"Do you have something to say?"

"Sorry, Your Honor. I was distracted trying to figure out something that may be important and admit I wasn't paying much attention," Morgan apologized. "What were you saying?"

That reveal caught everyone by surprise; even Seiji looked taken aback. The only exception was a certain person in the audience who observed the princess's attorney with interested eyes.

"We… I mean, one of the Shepherds just said Seiji can't claim Lucina to be the same person seem leaving the castle just because their descriptions match," surprise was noticeable in the elder man's voice, revealing he was also caught off guard by what Morgan said. "Do you have something to say about that?"

After a bit of thought, Morgan looked at the judge and said:

"No."

A collective 'what' echoed in the room.

"I said 'no'," Morgan repeated.

"What do you mean with that?!" Chrom asked exasperated.

"That means the defense has nothing to question for now," Morgan coldly answered without turning to face the Exalt, leaving him shocked at her rash attitude.

People began whispering everywhere.

"Order!" the judge demanded beating his hammer two times. "Ms. Morgan, are you sure about that?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Your Honor."

"And, pray forgive me for asking, for which reason?" he asked genuinely puzzled.

"For the same reason I can't tell what I was trying to figure out now," Morgan answered.

"And that would be?"

Crossing her arms, the girl emotionlessly said:

"Because I have doubts."

The defendant's attorney saying she had doubts about her own client? That surely was unexpected.

And extremely harmful for the princess's case.

"Well, since the defense has nothing to say, I'll allow Mr. Seiji to proceed," the judge announced turning to the prosecutor.

"Uh? Oh, sure!" Seiji recovered composure and cleared his throat.

"Morgan, what are you doing?!" Lucina asked exasperated, but Morgan returned to her thoughts and ignored her.

"Although I do admit the descriptions simply matching doesn't mean she's the person and, in fact, raises more suspicions than proves, the figure in question had a very peculiar characteristic that gives very strong evidence it was indeed the defendant," Seiji said.

"Morgan!" Lucina tried calling again, and was ignored.

"And what would it be?" the judge asked Seiji, who smiled confidently.

"One small and at the same time very important detail," the prosecutor then turned to point an accusing finger at Lucina. "The person saw by Yubari and Renato left the castle wearing a PURPLE COAT WITH A RED HOOD DECORATED WITH MULTICOLORED POLKA DOTS!"

The court room exploded in noise.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded beating his hammer many times.

"Morgan, do something!" Lucina grabbed Morgan's sleeve and pulled it nervously.

Despite all the voices and sounds around her, Morgan somehow managed to filter everything and concentrate solely in her thoughts.

Maybe it wasn't such a big thing in the end, but she couldn't get rid of the feeling that the second anonymous letter Seiji received wasn't just to help him. If they led him to different evidence, then it would be nothing to worry about. However, both letters spoke about people that saw Lucina leaving the castle and heading to Aeternum Village.

The letter she, or better saying the Elite Trio left for the prosecutor earlier that day under her orders and the other received later were about the exact same subject, received in the same day and both from people who didn't want to identify themselves.

Mere coincidence? Unlikely.

Worth investigating? Maybe.

Suspicious? Without a doubt.

"Morgan!" Lucina pulled the girl's sleeve again, this time a bit more irritated than nervous.

No answer.

"Morgan, what happened?!" Cynthia asked nervously, worried at her sister's attorney lack of reaction.

Still no answer.

"MORGAN!" Lucina shouted.

"SHUT UP!" the attorney shouted back.

Both princesses froze in shock.

Noticing Lucina was still holding her sleeve, Morgan pulled her hand away to get free from the princess's grasp and rolled her eyes annoyed. Pretending to still be upset with Lucina was part of the plan, but being so terribly rude wasn't.

Well, what could she do if Lucina went from a spoiled liar to an irritant spoiled liar? Every action has a reaction, right?

Fortunately for them, the judge only managed to restore order after that, so nobody heard anything they said.

"Mr. Seiji, your witnesses not being here to give testimony would usually invalidate your statement, especially because one of them cannot be located and did act somewhat… suspicious," the judge groomed his beard thoughtful. "But you found TWO people who have seem someone that had a very specific characteristic the princess had in the same night. Not only that, but one of them can be found and even prompted himself to give testimony if needed at a later moment, so I sincerely believe your statement is valid."

The Shepherds whispered worried to each other.

"Aside from this, do you have something else to add?"

After a bit of thought, Seiji looked at the judge and said:

"For now, the prosecution has nothing else to say."

He then returned to his seat.

"Very well, since the prosecution has finished, now's the defense's turn," the judge announced loudly.

Despite Morgan's initial excitement to do her plan, she wouldn't mind having a few more minutes to just stay quiet and think about what was happening.

For some reason, now that she stopped to think a bit better about everything that happened in the previous days, Seiji receiving an anonymous letter with the exact same subject as the one she sent wasn't the only weird thing in that story.

The way she was discovering things; Inigo and Severa running from a wyvern and finding the second clearing, Gangrel and Emmeryn finding one person in the inn that knew about the explosion, the crow leading her to the main square of Aeternum Village, which made her discover about the clock, Yen'fay and Walhart discovering about the flying creatures, the Elite Trio doing the DNA tests and how they suddenly connected Yarne to the case and how that made her discover the truth Lucina was hiding…

Everything was falling into place and it was good, but it was happening too fast and too easily.

Lots of coincidences and apparently random events were slowly connecting the dots and creating a single story, slowly revealing what happened in the night Nikolai Loss was killed.

It nearly felt like there was someone trying to make her uncover the truth.

Well, no matter how fishy things were looking she would have to leave that for later. The main priority she had was pulling her plan perfectly and now that Seiji finished his part like a good boy (although completely unaware of Morgan's scheme), it was her time to do hers.

"Your Honor, the defense would like to call a person to the witness seat," Morgan declared getting up.

"Who would be that person?" the judge asked.

Morgan adjusted her coat and put a hand on Lucina's shoulder.

"My client."

Everyone turned to face Morgan with a confused face.

"M-me?" Lucina asked.

"Yes, you," the princess's attorney confirmed.

The Shepherds looked confused at Morgan, wondering why she was summoning Lucina to the witness seat once again.

"B-but why?" Lucina asked in low tone, giving Morgan a puzzled face.

"Because it's the only option I have left," the other girl bluntly said.

What it really meant was unknown to Lucina, but options weren't a luxury she had available, so the princess got up from her chair and reluctantly walked to the seat in the middle of the room.

As soon as Lucina sat, Morgan left her place, walked towards her with the most stoic face she could make, stopped at her right, turned to the audience and took a deep breath, feeling a faint nervousness make a shiver run down her spine.

No matter how many times she mentally prepared herself for that moment, theory and practice worked differently and now it was the time to see if her plan would go like expected or would fall flat to the ground.

"Members of the audience, you must be asking yourselves why I summoned my client once again, even though I already did so the first time we gathered here, in this same room, two days ago," Morgan calmly began. "Well, the reason I summoned her again is because I wanted to speak a bit about my client."

"OBJECTION!" Seiji interjected. "You're simply trying to buy time because you lack evidence to defend your client!"

"You aren't totally wrong about that, Seiji," a cheeky smile appeared in Morgan's face. "I won't deny that defending her in our current situation will be tricky, but I do have lots of evidence to use, just not to accomplish my main duty as her attorney."

"What do you mean with 'not to accomplish my main duty as her attorney'? If it isn't useful for that, then it has no use for the case! You're just wasting our time!"

"Ms. Morgan, I have to agree with Mr. Seiji," the judge said turning to the girl. "If it isn't relevant for your current duty of defending Ms. Lucina, then it has no use for the case."

"Although I do agree with both you and Seiji, Your Honor, I would like to say that, despite it not being directly connected to my job of defending my client, it's still related to the case and Lucina, which means it isn't a 'waste of time' like Seiji said," Morgan said unworried.

"Doesn't matter! If it can't be used to defend your client, then it's unimportant! Saying whatever you want may hurt her case even more!" Seiji declared irritated. "You're her attorney! You have to defend her, not put her head on the cutting board!"

"And you're the prosecutor. You have to ACCUSE her, not defend," Morgan shot back.

"What are you saying?! I'm not defending her!"

"You're trying to convince me to stay quiet because whatever I want to say may hurt her case instead of letting me speak AND possibly use it to accuse her later," the girl smiled mischievously. "If I'm really buying time for lack of evidence to defend my client, then you can just let me speak what I want and then use it to show that I can't do anything anymore and simply win the case, can't you?"

Seiji opened his mouth ready to argue back, but was forced to stay quiet, begrudgingly noticing his rival was right.

Behind him, the audience commented in low tone what Morgan just said, voices whispering in surprise or incredulity. The Shepherds were surely the most affected of all present, with most of them in a state of utter confusion, completely unable to understand what Morgan was doing.

" _What happened to her?!"_ Brady thought worried, wondering why she was doing it.

"Ugh… I hate to admit, but you're right…" Seiji reluctantly admitted. "Fine, I take back my objection. Speak whatever you want," he leaned against the chair and crossed his arms. "It isn't my client that's going to jail."

The snarky comment nearly made Chrom and Sumia get up from their seats and throw tons of wrathful words at the prosecutor, but both ultimately decided it wasn't worth the trouble and gave up.

Besides, what really mattered wasn't Seiji; Morgan was the true problem at hand.

Why was she acting that way? She wasn't helping Lucina's case; it even sounded like she simply gave up and was just playing the game with whatever cards she got.

Could it mean she really gave up on Lucina?

"Although it's still true that you can't simply say anything you want without it being relevant for your duty as the defendant's attorney and, as such, I should forbid you of doing so, since the prosecution took back the objection and you claim that what you want to say is still relevant for the case, this time I'll open an exception and let you continue. Do remember that this will be only THIS TIME," the judge severely adverted.

"Thank you, Your Honor," Morgan politely bowed to the elderly man and turned to the audience again. "What I wanted to say before being rudely interrupted…"

Seiji rolled his eyes.

"I won't deny that my duty as Lucina's attorney is becoming harder with every passing day, especially with everything that was said in the previous session about my client 'supposedly' lying, but I wanted to take some time to remind you all that there are strong reasons which make me believe my client isn't lying!"

Lucina stared intrigued at Morgan and raised an eyebrow. Her attorney was the first one… Well, not exactly the first one because who really called her a liar first was Seiji, but she was one of the first to accuse her of lying, so why was she saying she had reasons to believe otherwise now?

Especially because Lucina knew she admitted having lied in her testimony to Morgan the previous night!

Yes, Morgan was her attorney and, as such, had to defend her, but she simply leaving everything that happened aside like she was blindfolded and unable to see the truth?

Not, that wasn't the Morgan she knew. The girl was planning something.

"Lucina is a member of the Royal Family. She has a reputation to watch over!" Morgan began discoursing. "Why would she risk putting the name of everyone to shame lying in court? The damage would range from Chrom to Sumia, from her parents to her grandparents, from her great-grandparents to the parents of her great-grandparents… from even Cynthia to Gerome!"

"GEROME ISN'T PART OF THE FAMILY!" Chrom got up and shouted.

"Yet," Sumia playfully added.

"What the…?!" Chrom's jaw dropped as he stared incredulous at his wife.

In the defense table, Cynthia tried desperately to hide a blush, her reddened face only rivaled by a certain Wyvern Rider trying to hide amidst the people.

"The shame would be so destructive that even Grima would be jaw dropped to see the effects! Lots of people would have their lives turned upside down, inwards out by this! No place would be safe from the fearsome devastation it would cause!" Morgan said dramatically. "Do you agree with me or not?" she pointed at the audience.

Absolutely every living being in the room remained silent.

"Huh?! Nobody agrees?!" Morgan pretended to be extremely incredulous.

"Uh… I think the correct thing to say is that nobody understood," Ricken pointed out.

Nods everywhere.

"Oh… In this case, I'll try to be a bit more direct and less…"

"Ridiculous?" Seiji mocked.

"Melodramatic is the right word, but thank you for trying," Morgan delivered sarcastically.

"This time, try using easy words or Vaike won't understand," Sully took the chance to taunt her colleague a bit.

"Yeah, don't do any of that…" Vaike suddenly processed what Sully said and turned to her with a glare. "Hey! What did you mean with that?!"

"Order in the court!" the judge ordered beating his hammer.

"You know what, Emmeryn?" Gangrel suddenly asked to the woman at his right.

"What?" the former Exalt lowly asked back.

"This is being much better than I expected," the man grinned putting both hands behind his head and leaning against the chair. "I'm kinda glad you dragged me here with you."

What exactly Gangrel liked so much was unknown to Emmeryn, as Lucina was clearly troubled and discussions were happening all the time, but just seeing him smiling filled her heart with satisfaction.

After the judge restored silence to the court room, Morgan thanked him and proceeded to explain what she said.

"I'm trying to say Lucina is a good person. Of course, that doesn't mean she is perfect and has no defects. For example, her fashion sense is horrible. To say the truth, it's so horrible it could be considered a crime!"

Lucina blushed.

"And her cooking skills? There was a time she made a cake so hard we used it to replace a rock in one of the castle's walls!"

Lucina blushed even more.

"And her skills with an axe? She once tried using one and nearly made father's head fly meters away!"

Lucina's face became redder than Cordelia's hair.

"And the only thing she's worse at than telling jokes is understanding them!"

Lucina hid her face with both hands.

"Morgan, stop that!" Chrom ordered angrily, noticing how embarrassed his daughter was becoming.

The worst part wasn't Morgan saying all those things, but the fact that every time she did it, at least five people would nod in agreement.

"And it's very clear by now that she's very… lacking in certain departments."

Lucina got ready to argue back.

"But that's the point! She's just a human! Humans aren't perfect!" Morgan said before the princess could say anything. "And just because she isn't perfect doesn't mean she can't make mistakes! Yes, maybe not everything she said in her testimony is exactly the truth, but who never lied before? Or who never understood something wrong? Or said the wrong time? Those things happen and they're just accidents."

"Wait just a moment," Seiji interrupted. "Are you trying to convince us that she just gave wrong information ON ACCIDENT?"

"Until it's proven otherwise, we can't say it's impossible to have happened."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard! The evidence clearly show she's lying and is fully aware of that!"

"Maybe, but I don't believe she gave a wrong testimony on purpose. And I'm not saying it as her attorney or the Grandmaster's Proxy!" Morgan declared with a serious tone. "I know Lucina very well. She wouldn't do that! Lying in court would destroy her reputation and harm her family's as well. Even if she had a good reason to do so, she wouldn't do it! Do you know why? Because it would be bad not only for her. Chrom, Sumia, Cynthia, Lissa, Owain… Everyone related to her would be harmed as well. They would walk in the street and people would start saying things like 'look, the family of that liar', or maybe 'the Royal Liars, that's what they're'. It could even evolve to a point where the trust in the Royal Family would be destroyed! Can you imagine the consequences of that?"

Morgan pocketed her hands.

"And even if she made the mistake of lying, she would tell the truth as soon as possible, because she would know it was WRONG. She would understand that, even though it would hurt her image, keeping the truth hidden and insisting on her lie would make things worse! Everyone, from her family to all the Shepherds, would suffer because of it. People wouldn't trust in us anymore, and because of that the Royal Family would lose control and the Shepherds would start falling apart. Nobody would trust in anyone else. People would blame the Shepherds, and the Shepherds would blame Lucina or each other."

"I wouldn't!" Henry announced from the back of the room.

"You're ruining the mood! Shut up!" Morgan ordered.

"Whoops! Sorry!" the Sorcerer apologized.

"Sheesh…" the Proxy rolled her eyes and then continued. "Lucina would tell the truth because she knows having the courage to face the consequences of your acts is more important than reputation. She would know that insisting on a lie wouldn't help anyone, but just harm them even more!"

Lucina blushed intensely again, but for a different reason.

"That was a very beautiful speech, Morgan, I'll admit it. However, I fail to see your point," Seiji said taking a better position on the chair. "Everything you said shows you trust Lucina a lot or is simply blind to the facts."

The Shepherds began protesting, but Seiji simply ignored and proceeded.

"But that speech doesn't prove she isn't lying or, even more important than that, doesn't prove she has nothing to do with the death of Nikolai Loss."

"Man, I nearly forgot this trial is about the merchant's death…" Inigo commented to Laurent.

"It embarrasses me to say, but for a moment, the fact also slipped my mind…" the Mage ashamedly admitted.

" _If it hits Lucina in her consciousness, I sincerely don't care if it proved anything,"_ Morgan commented to herself, spying her client with the corner of an eye.

On the witness seat, Lucina seemed to be in the middle of an internal dilemma, fidgeting nervously and a deep red tinting her cheeks. Her eyes were looking down, she was biting her lower lip and played with a lock of hair sometimes. Those things together meant one thing: she was nervous.

The most important of all, though, was probably her face. The pained expression she had was being caused by one thing, and it was exactly the thing Morgan wanted her to feel after all that. It was the thing she needed to make Lucina finally confess.

It was pure guilt.

" _Excellent, she's nearing her limits,"_ Morgan maliciously celebrated. _"Now, I just need that eensey weensey little extra push."_

Trying her best to hide how satisfied she was, Morgan cleared her throat and continued speaking.

"Aside from everything I already said, there's one more thing I would like to say."

"Oh, really? Tell us and let's see if it's as 'convincing' as everything you said before," Seiji challenged.

"If Lucina is really lying, then she wouldn't keep doing it for much longer because it started to harm my father's good reputation as well."

All the Shepherds became surprised to hear that, but Lucina became especially shocked at the simple mention of the Grandmaster.

"R-Robin?! What about Robin?!" the princess inquired worried.

"You don't know? Everyone is talking about it!" Morgan said.

"The worst part is that they really are," Seiji confirmed. "That thing is spreading faster than the plague spreads itself."

" _Faster than the plague? Huh… Seems like Rick wasn't exaggerating after all…"_ the girl commented in her head.

"Don't worry, Lucina. It isn't important now," Morgan tried to dismiss.

"How can it not be important?! What's happening?!" Lucina insisted.

"No, seriously. You better not…"

"Morgan, what is happening?! What about Robin?!" the princess interrupted.

Chrom got up from his chair and said:

"Morgan, what is happening? What is that thing you said about your father?"

"What are they saying about him?" Sumia also asked.

In seconds, all the Shepherds began questioning as well.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, everyone! I'll explain!" Morgan motioned them to relax and sighed, pretending to be annoyed. "Since yesterday, when the whole story of Lucina having lied began, a rumor that she's lying to protect father spread around Ylisstol."

"Protect…?! But why would I want to do that?!" Lucina inquired incredulous.

"Believe it or not, but people are thinking it's father who killed Nikolai Loss."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" almost all Shepherds said in unison.

"R-Robin?! Killed Nikolai Loss?! T-that's absurd! He would never do it!" Lucina exclaimed indignant.

"I know, but some people apparently don't," Morgan raised her shoulders.

"But which reason Robin would have to kill Nikolai?! And why they thought I was trying to protect him?!" the princess asked.

"Ms. Morgan, your client's questions interest me as well," the judge admitted. "I can't understand why people would want to hurt your good father's image after everything he has done for the Halidom. Who would do it and for which reason?"

Of course, Morgan couldn't tell him who really created the rumors and why, so she had to create a story. Fortunately, after spending a lot of time refining it she felt confident enough to tell her 'version' of what happened without giving any hint that could delate her lie.

"Nobody knows who started spreading the rumors, but the folks that work for the Ylissean black market are the biggest suspects. Due to the many operations father led to arrest many of them and the countless illegal transactions he foiled, we believe they're trying to hurt his image with the intent of convincing the people to start rebellions and force him to abdicate of his post."

Comments and whispers everywhere.

"What really worries me aren't the rumors by themselves, though," Morgan rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "The problem is that there are many versions of the story spreading in the streets of Ylisstol and many people are believing them."

"What?!" Lucina and Chrom asked in shocked unison.

"How can they believe Robin would do such a horrible thing?" Maribelle inquired indignant.

"Father decided to go on vacations and leave Ylisse in the same day Nikolai was killed. Many people think it's too much coincidence to mean nothing," Morgan sighed. "And the… other rumors that existed about father much before that didn't help any bit."

"Other rumors?" Chrom asked raising an eyebrow. "Which rumors?"

…

"No, you can't mean…"

"Yes, that's exactly what you're thinking," Morgan sadly answered. "The ones about father trying to take the throne."

The audience became a noisy mess.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer.

"That's ridiculous! We already proved those rumors are wrong! And what they have to do with the whole story of the merchant's death?!" Lucina shouted exasperated, her voice full of indignance.

"One of the rumors says father was somehow responsible for Nikolai's death and, to avoid being caught, pretended to go out on vacations, taking mother with him to make things even more convincing," Morgan began explaining to the princess. "To kill two birds with one rock, he planned a way to frame you as the killer, which would destabilize the already fragile state of the Royal Family due to our… current situation. Whatever the results of the trial, with your family's name hurt, he would then return and using his power, authority and influence as Grandmaster, would overthrow the throne."

Lucina gasped.

"But then the story of you lying in court also spread around and a new version of that rumor was born," the attorney continued. "Now, there are some saying that father killed Nikolai and wants to overthrow the throne, but convinced you to take the hit for him."

"And why would I do such a thing?!" the princess inquired.

"Because, at least per the rumors, you were seduced by him."

Another noisy mess began.

"Order! Order! I'll have order!" the judge said with a severe tone, beating his hammer many times.

"S-seduced me?!" Lucina blushed intensely. "W-which evidence they have to say that?!"

"None, but like I said, the rumors that existed about father much before this didn't help," the Grandmaster's daughter said. "Before father recovered his memories, people were already gossiping about him and, as much as it hurts me to say it, for a good reason. I mean, a man with no memory suddenly appears from nowhere and becomes the Shepherds tactician? That sounds fishy and nobody can deny it."

Nods everywhere. Even some of the Shepherds ended agreeing, although a bit begrudgingly.

"And what was discovered about him after that? That he was a Plegian, born amidst Grimleal, Validar's son, had the Fell Dragon's blood, was destined to become its avatar… It was just a question of time until people began saying ill things about him and what would the citizens imagine of a person with such a profile being the Grandmaster?"

"Robin never tried to take the throne!" Chrom announced.

"I know, but do you really think everyone does?" Morgan turned to give Chrom an annoyed expression.

"And what it has to do with seducing me?!" Lucina asked nervously.

"When you joined the army, it was the same story; an unknown person, later revealed to be a distant relative of Chrom, that appeared from nowhere and whose past was a mystery," Morgan answered turning to Lucina. "People suspected of you and, at a later point, began even wondering what was the real relationship between you and father."

"W-we never had a relationship!" Lucina shouted getting up from her chair, her voice sounding a bit harsher than she wanted for some reason.

"And like I said before, I know, but do you really think everyone does or EVEN CARES?" a bit irritated, Morgan put both hands on her hips and gave Lucina a stern look.

The princess tried to say something, but at that point she was so emotionally exhausted the words simply didn't materialize and she was forced to sit down before losing balance.

"That's why I'm convinced you aren't lying. You wouldn't stay quiet and let something like this happen if you were," Morgan tried to comfort her client.

"If that's the case," Seiji suddenly spoke up. "then let me make a question."

"Sure, do it," the girl turned to her rival.

"If Lucina wouldn't keep lying if it's hurting someone else, then why is she still lying even when it's clearly destroying the good image of your father?"

The Shepherds furiously protested.

"Order! Order! I demand order!" the judge shouted to the furious part of the audience.

"Before anyone has any funny ideas, I'm not saying Robin killed Nikolai or has seduced the defendant," Seiji crossed his arms. "I know him and have no doubt that Robin is a person of good indole and would never do that, but if the princess insists on lying despite all the evidence shown proving she is and how much it's damaging the Grandmaster's reputation, which consequently hurts his family's as well, then I can only imagine she's indeed hiding something to save her own skin."

"Don't speak of Lucina like you knew anything about her!" Cynthia yelled irate at the prosecutor.

"I'm not saying anything about her! I'm just stating the facts and the facts say she's a liar!" Seiji shot back.

"That's right! Any idiot can see she's lying! And dirtying the Grandmaster's image!" a man from the audience got up and shouted. "We should put her in the most disgusting cell and throw the key away!"

"Dare to try!" Chrom angrily exclaimed.

"Don't even think about laying a single finger on her," Frederick added getting up.

"Just because she's from the Royal Family the law doesn't apply to her?" a woman said indignant.

The whole room exploded in heated arguments. The judge loudly ordered everyone to calm down many times, but the insults and threats people were throwing at each other were so loud it was impossible to hear his voice. The guards immediately ran to the audience and tried to control the situation, but only two guards had no chance against more than fifty people.

The situation became so bad Morgan even began wondering if her plan was so good as she thought.

" _Wow… Things escalated much faster and farther than I predicted…"_ the girl thought worried.

With the corner of an eye, she spied Lucina on the witness seat. The princess was looking down, her face clearly showing she was in the middle of a terrible internal conflict.

" _Come on, Lucina! Tell the truth! I already put all the pressure I could! Don't tell me you're willing to let this happen because of such a ridiculously stupid reason!"_ Morgan mentally ordered, feeling hostility growing in the audience and cold sweat all over her face. _"Don't make me regret doing this!"_

Amidst the chaos, one person in the audience quietly observed everything, his yellow eyes shining with interest.

" _The Proxy put her own father's name to risk just to force the princess confess the truth?"_ he rubbed his chin. _"That is a very daring strategy… I liked it. And by the way the princess is looking, that plan seems to be working."_

A wide smile appeared in the person's face.

" _Even more interesting is that the Proxy would never risk her own father's name, unless he agreed with that,"_ he let out a low, evil laughter. _"Oh, dear… This is being much funnier than I predicted and I am usually good at predicting…"_

 **To be continued…**

 _Although I read the chapter a few times before posting, due to it being much longer than any previous one, it's very likely that more mistakes happened and I failed to notice them. If anyone notices anything, feel free to leave a review or send a PM warning me._

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading._

 _See you later!_


	12. Hidden Feelings Lead to Bad Bunnies

_What is that? Is that a bird? Is that a fly? Is that a horrendous fat monster that gives nightmares to children?_

 _No! It's a me! TheLittleDarkLord!_

 _Which means the fat monster isn't completely wrong…_

 _It's been a while since the last update and I have a few things I need to tell you guys, but let's leave that for later like we always do and proceed to the story._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _You already know what I'm about to say, but just as usual… Fire Emblem and everything related to it belong to Nintendo, I don't own anything aside from this story and the original characters, every other franchise or character mentioned belong to their respective creators, please don't sue me because I still have lots of things to do and Christmas presents to give before next year._

 _After that, I can go to jail happy! :D_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 12: Hidden Feelings Lead to Bad Bunnies**

 **Court room, Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 05:02 PM**

It took a lot of effort and some time, but the judge managed to restore order and make both sides of the audience (the one composed of Shepherds and the one that wasn't) calm down.

Morgan tried very hard to hide her nervousness; she knew from the very beginning her plan was a daring one and would cause a lot of noise, but never expected things to reach that level in such a short time.

Even worse: despite all the conflict her 'revelations' caused, Lucina remained quiet in the witness seat. Nervous, blushing and clearly in the middle of an internal conflict, but quiet nonetheless.

She wasn't saying anything; she wasn't even showing any traces of planning to speak up, tell the truth and finally end all that story, so Morgan could continue with her job of defending her without the fear of accidentally putting her own client in jail.

In other words, Morgan's plan wasn't working like it should.

" _What the hell is that girl waiting for?!"_ the young attorney used all her self-control to stop herself from launching a venomous glare at the princess. _"The whole court room nearly became a battlefield and she's still quiet! Is she really that determined to hide IT?!"_

Lucina's persistence in keeping what happened a secret was getting on Morgan's nerves. She did understand why the princess was so determined, but if the blue-haired heir of Ylisse's throne didn't start spilling the beans, then the only possible outcome for her was being put behind the bars.

Worse than that, put behind the bars because of a stupid…

"From now on, I expect all the people present here to be more respectful and control themselves," the judge severely said in a loud tone, making Morgan snap out of her thoughts and some people in the audience grumble lowly.

" _Concentrate, Morgan… This isn't over yet,"_ the girl lightly hit her own forehead with two fingers. _"You know Lucina. There's no way she would keep hiding it if father's reputation is in risk."_

Or at least, she hoped so.

"Ms. Morgan, everything you told us caused quite a commotion in this session," the judge turned to the girl. "However, aside from that, I couldn't find anything that's relevant for your client's case."

Of course not. That wasn't the intention.

The intention was to make Lucina feel so guilty she would tell everything, but the darned princess was much more stubborn than Morgan believed.

"Do you have something else to say?" the elderly man inquired serious.

Morgan found herself in a delicate situation; Lucina was still reluctant to tell the truth, but the expression in her face was a clear sign that she was nearing her limits. Maybe, and just maybe, if Morgan put a bit more of pressure on the princess, she would finally break and say everything she had.

On other hand, it meant using even more time to say stuff that wasn't relevant or directly related to the case, which could make people suspicious of her. Seiji had already accused her of wasting time for lack of evidence and the judge's tone was an irrefutable sign he also had suspicions.

So, with not many choices left, Morgan sighed, crossed her arms and announced:

"No, the defense has nothing else to say."

With an annoyed expression, she sat down and stared emotionless at the still nervous princess sitting on the witness seat.

"Morgan, what was that?!" Cynthia whispered worried to Morgan. "It was very nice to know you trust so much in Lucina and I don't want to sound rude, but that didn't help any bit!" she spied the audience behind her with the corner of her eyes. "People seem to be even more convinced she's hiding something!"

"And they're right," Morgan grumbled to herself.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," the white-haired girl dismissed, noticing she accidentally spoke louder than planned.

"Since the defense has nothing else to add…" the judge turned to Seiji. "The prosecution would like to say something?"

"Only one thing, Your Honor," Seiji got up from his chair and launched a menacing look at Lucina.

The princess fidgeted nervous, looking nervously at the prosecutor and the whole audience behind him.

"Morgan has made very clear she trusts you. So much it may have blinded her to the truth," Seiji announced, making some of the Shepherds want to protest and begrudgingly hold their irritation for themselves. "If you're lying, which all the evidence presented to this court show you are, you would not only be betraying Morgan's trust on you, but also damaging her father's reputation and possibly leading to an internal conflict between the people of the Halidom of Ylisse and the Grandmaster."

Lucina looked away, her face a deep red.

"So, I'll ask this only one time," Seiji put both hands on his back and glared at the defendant. "Did you tell only the truth for this court?"

Seiji applying even more pressure on Lucina wasn't part of the plan, but Morgan wouldn't complain about it. Who knew if that was the final dose of guilt needed to make her finally reveal everything?

"I…" Lucina said in a low tone, eyes locked on the floor in front of her.

"You?" Seiji invited her to continue.

Lucina closed her eyes and clenched her fists; it wouldn't be easy to do that, but it was her final decision and she wouldn't change her mind.

Taking a deep breath, the princess gathered courage to look at the prosecutor with a hard stare and firmly announced:

"Yes, I told only the truth."

" _WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUCK?!"_ Morgan internally screamed.

"I'm sorry, Robin…" Lucina muttered to herself.

The court exploded in noise and angry voices.

"Order! I demand order!" the judge began beating his hammer.

"Do however you want," Seiji glared at Lucina and returned to his seat.

The judge continued demanding order, but the audience became so noisy nobody heard him.

"I said it once and I'll say it again," Lucina began with a serious tone. "I said nothing else aside from the…"

"NAGAF—UUUUUUUUUURGH!"

All the sounds disappeared and left an awkward silence.

"Ms. Morgan?" the judge asked with shocked eyes.

Everyone turned to look at the princess's attorney, whose left eye was violently twitching and had two nerves bulging in her forehead.

"I'M SO SORRY, YOUR HONOR!" the girl said with a very forced smile. "I HIT MY ANKLE ON THE CHAIR! IT HURT A LOT! I'LL TRY TO CONTROL MYSELF! APOLOGIES!"

The aggressiveness in Morgan's voice was a clear sign it wasn't just a hurt ankle, but nobody dared to question her after seeing how horribly scary she looked when angered.

They can thank Aversa for giving her that trait.

"Uh… In that case…" the judge looked a bit confused. "The defendant can return to her seat."

A bit hesitant, Lucina got up, walked towards her chair at Morgan's side and carefully sat, eyes always on the white-haired girl who seemed to be on the brink of having a heart attack.

"M-Morgan, are you okay?" the princess asked.

"OF COURSE I AM! WHY WOULDN'T I?!" Morgan looked at Lucina with a forced smile and gritting her teeth. "SEE?! I'M FINE!"

Lucina decided it wasn't a wise moment to discuss that and remained quiet.

"Very well, in this case, let's proceed with the trial," the judge announced clearing his throat.

" _I can't believe that spoiled little pest did that!"_ Morgan mentally roared, resisting the urge of pulling her hair and screaming all her anger out. _"That selfish bitch prefers to keep lying instead of fixing things! I risked father's name for nothing!"_

The way Morgan's eyes became bloodshot and her gritting teeth made a horrible noise worried both Lucina and Cynthia, but those same things scared them so much they became completely unable to ask the white-haired girl if everything was okay.

" _Gods damn it! What am I supposed to do now?!"_

 **Ever Woods, September 26** **th** **, 05:11 PM**

It wasn't procrastination; he was old and didn't have the blessing of youth anymore, so nobody could blame him for needing much more rest than he used.

Besides, all the stupid events he was forced into in the previous days distracted his not horrible, but clearly damaged by the age memory and he completely forgot about that little thing he had to do.

Scratching his head and yawning loudly, he went to the pile of stomped leaves he was using as bed, rummaged into it a few times and took what he was looking for.

Why that crazy man was so desperate to get rid of the darned thing or how he managed to keep operations like that hidden from everyone else was a mystery, but the experience of spending a few days in a hard to believe misadventure with that guy told him it would be better to leave some questions unanswered.

On top of all, that same crazy man was the Grandmaster. If there was someone aside from the Exalt who had the resources to do such things, that person surely was him.

 **Court room, Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 05:12 PM**

If Morgan wasn't in the middle of the court room with lots of people around, she would be slamming her head on the table out of fury.

She had no idea how Lucina managed to endure the pressure after being pinned where it hurt the most, but that was the smallest of her problems.

The plan backfired beautifully; if the odds turning even more against the princess wasn't enough, the audience became more convinced she was guilty AND Morgan dirtied her father's good image with fake rumors for absolutely nothing.

" _Stupid girl! Stupid, pesky, stubborn girl!"_ Morgan began to angrily chew her nails. _"What the hell am I going to do now?!"_

The young Proxy was chewing her nails so aggressively it made Lucina and Cynthia instinctively move their chairs a bit farther from her.

" _Putting father in the story should be enough to make her give up on that whole nonsense! Why didn't it work?!"_ another nerve bulged in the girl's forehead. _"Do I have to kill someone to make her speak?!"_

"Well, since the defense has nothing else to say," the judge said calmly, apparently unaware of Morgan nearly biting her fingers off. "it's the prosecution's turn to speak."

Seiji gave Lucina one last glare before getting up and walking to the middle of the room.

"Members of the audience, after everything shown to you in this court room, I believe it's completely unnecessary to keep talking about the defendant's lack of good sense and how bad of a liar she is."

The snarky comment irritated both Chrom and Sumia, but after all the times both the Shepherds and the other half of the audience messed the trial, they were sure the judge wouldn't accept more arguments and forced the words to die before leaving their mouths.

Lucina, on other hand…

"What are you talking about?! Lack of good sense?! Which right do you have to say that of me?!"

"Let me think…" Seiji mockingly put a finger on his chin and pretended to be thinking. "Maybe I think it's reasonable to say that about you because…"

He pointed an accusing finger at her.

"It's very clear you're lying to hide something from us!"

Voices everywhere.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer.

"How many times do I have to say I'm not lying?!" Lucina vociferated.

" _How many times do we have to show you that EVERYONE KNOWS YOU ARE?!"_ Morgan mentally scowled.

"I have to say, if YOU began believing in your own lie, then it must be a very good one or you're extremely foolish," Seiji sneered.

This time, Chrom and Sumia couldn't hold themselves and began protesting angrily.

"Order! I'll have order and I'll have now!" the judge shouted before turning to the prosecutor. "Mr. Seiji, I already warned both you and Ms. Morgan to control your vocabulary."

"I'm sorry, Your Honor," the boy bowed. "Where was I again? Oh, yes…"

He menacingly approached the defense table.

"If you're still unsure if you lied or not, then let me review some things we discovered here," Seiji put both hands on his back. "There are two witnesses who saw you leaving Ylisse Castle before the time you said in your testimony; Sapphire and her mother confirmed you were in the festival of Aeternum Village before the time you said you arrived; Sapphire saw Gerome arriving after you, making impossible for you to have arrived after eight o'clock; the clock tower is broken, so the time you saw on it is dubious; someone fitting your description was seen entering Ever Woods and you were the only person in the clearing when they found Nikolai Loss dead."

Seiji crossed his arms and launched a challenging glare at Lucina.

"Is that enough?"

Lucina tried to argue back, but the words simply didn't materialize and she fell in an awkward silence.

"Which also brings a question," the boy proceeded. "You keep saying you told only the truth, which means you left the castle at the time you said and arrived when you said you did. There are witnesses who support my version of the story, but do you have any alibi to support YOUR version?"

Lucina seemed reluctant to answer.

"So…?"

"I… I…" the princess stuttered lowly before looking down and admitting defeat. "No, I don't…"

Whispers everywhere.

"Just like I thought," the prosecutor gave a small victorious smile. "Now, do you really think there's any way you can make us believe you?"

Lucina remained silent.

" _It's over! Totally over! Thanks a lot, Lucina! Now I have a humongous pickle to solve!"_ Morgan internally growled to the princess, trying to figure a way to clean her father's name and resist the urge of grabbing the princess's neck and strangle it.

"Tsk! I thought Morgan's shenanigans would make her lose the case, but apparently it was her own client who did it," the prosecutor giggled evilly, turning his back to Lucina and returning to his seat. "I'm especially worried with Robin. His good reputation dirtied by someone he trusted."

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt Robin!" Lucina got up from her chair and shouted.

" _But you just did…"_ Morgan facepalmed.

"He's the most…" Lucina paused and shook her head. "One of the most important people of my life! I would prefer to put myself in danger than doing anything that could hurt him!"

The princess clenched her fists in anger.

"He's dear to me and my family! The last thing I want is to do anything bad for him or see him go away!"

" _See him go away?"_ Morgan repeated the princess's words raising an eyebrow. _"See him go away… Away…"_

That sentence, as random as it sounded (even more because of their current situation), surprisingly made a memory return to the girl's mind.

A memory from some time ago, not too much in truth, from the day when Grima was defeated and her father sacrificed himself to destroy the Fell Dragon.

A memory from when they still had no idea if he would ever return.

From much before he returned to his family's and friends' welcoming arms.

The day when these words were said:

" _No! No, this can't be happening! Please, tell me this is lie! This can't be! I can't believe it! I don't want to believe it! I DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE! HE CAN'T BE GONE!"_

The girl's eyes widened as an idea beamed in her head.

"Ms. Lucina, control yourself," the judge severely said. "We're still on trial and that behavior…"

"HOLD IT!"

The whole court room froze in shock and looked at the princess's attorney, who got up for her chair and looked fixatedly to the judge.

"Ms. Morgan?" the elderly man asked confused.

"Your Honor," Morgan began politely. "I know this isn't the time nor the place for this, but…"

She showed her phone to the judge.

"Can I answer my phone?"

Awkward silence. Did she really ask that?

After recovering from the surprise, the judge shook his head and gave Morgan a very serious stare.

"Ms. Morgan, we're still on trial. You must concentrate on your duties as the defendant's attorney and answering your phone isn't one of them."

"The judge knows what's a smartass or whatever thing?" Chrom whispered to Sumia, who just rose her shoulders and shook her head.

"I understand, Your Honor, and I'm very sorry for asking this, but I think it's an emergency," Morgan tried to reason.

"And why do you think so?" the judge asked back.

"Because it's father."

The simple mention of Robin made the whole court room look even more shocked at the white-haired girl, especially a certain royal defendant.

"Mr. Robin?" the judge looked surprised.

"Yes, it's father who's calling me," the young attorney confirmed. "I don't know what it is, but he's aware I'm on trial now and he wouldn't interrupt me during such an important occasion if it wasn't urgent."

That was an incredibly risky move and if it also failed, then the case was lost and Lucina would be sent straight to jail. However, thanks to her current situation, the choices available were very limited, which also limited the time she had to do something.

It was a drastic situation and it needed drastic measures.

Of course, after all the time of trial she wasted with the discourse that was supposed to make Lucina confess, there was a high chance the judge wouldn't allow her to 'answer' her phone, but maybe the mention of her father would be enough to convince him otherwise.

Fortunately for the young Proxy, her father's influence among the Halidom and everyone who lived there was enough to make the judge consider her request.

"I shouldn't let you answer your phone, but…" he groomed his beard a bit thoughtful. "Like you said, Mr. Robin wouldn't call you in the middle of the trial if it wasn't an emergency."

The elderly man nodded.

"Very well, I'll allow you to answer, but be quick."

Morgan bowed to the judge, quickly tapped her phone and pretended to start a conversation with her father.

"Hi, sorry to keep you waiting. What happened?" she asked while walking away and leaving the court room.

Everyone accompanied the girl with their eyes, whispering and looking at each other with confused expressions, wondering what could be so urgent to make the Grandmaster interrupt the trial.

In the middle of his vacations, on top of that.

 **Outside the court room, Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 05:32 PM**

Despite being completely alone in the hall, Morgan kept the phone on her ear and spied her surroundings now and then to make sure nobody would suddenly appear and discover she wasn't talking with anyone.

She never expected to become so nervous during the case, but who could blame her?

Morgan lied in court, fooled everyone, nearly crushed Lucina, her own client, with emotional pressure, spread fake rumors about her father in the whole Ylisstol and now was pretending to have an important conversation with the man himself.

If someone discovered all that, she would be sent to jail with Lucina.

But it was too late to regret anything; she already dirtied her hands too much to worry about it and the only way to put an end to the whole mess was diving deeper in the mud.

Even if her father wouldn't be very pleased to know things got way worse than he expected.

 _ **Earlier that day…**_

 _"Morgan, I can't believe you did that,"_ Robin said in a mix of incredulity and disappointment.

"I know it was wrong and I'm very sorry, dad!" Morgan apologized. "I didn't want to harm your reputation, but I have no idea of how to make Lucina confess anymore!"

 _"My reputation, as important as it may be, is just that. A reputation and nothing more,"_ the Grandmaster said with a serious tone. _"What I can't believe is that you plotted something so evil against Lucina!"_

"I didn't want to do that, I really didn't!"

…

"Okay, maybe a small part of me did," Morgan admitted with a cheeky smile. "But she left me no alternatives! I can't continue this case if she doesn't tell the truth and the only way to make her tell the truth is forcing it out of her!"

 _"And are you telling me that was the only way to do it?!"_ Robin asked nervous.

"What else could I do? Is there anything that could be done to make her confess THAT aside from what I did?"

Silence.

 _"Ugh…"_ the Grandmaster grumbled. _"As much as it hurts me to say, Lucina is incredibly sensitive and defensive about that subject. She won't spill the beans unless someone forces it out of her, so…"_ he sighed. _"I can't think of anything else."_

"See? That's why I did it!" Morgan said firmly.

 _"She won't like to do it, though,"_ her father mumbled.

"I know she won't and I know what consequences it may have," the girl confessed. "But if she doesn't say anything, then it'll only get worse for her. Yours and her reputation can be restored with some time and hard work, but if she's arrested, then it'll be for the rest of her life."

Robin sighed again. Deep down, he knew Morgan was right.

He still disliked at which point things got, but was forced to admit it was a drastic measure for an equally, if not more, drastic situation.

"Sooooo…" Morgan scratched her head. "What do YOU think?"

A few moments of silence before Robin lowly said:

 _"I sincerely can't think of anything better. Lucina won't tell the truth willingly and, as much as I hate to say this, forcing her may be the only choice."_

The girl sighed relieved. Fortunately, Robin didn't get angry with her or opposed to the plan.

 _"I have a question to make, though,"_ her father suddenly said.

"Uh? What?"

 _"How did you have that idea?"_

Morgan fell silent and nervously tapped her fingers on the table. She didn't want to lie to her father, but if she told him the truth, it could cause problems between him and her mother, which was something the girl didn't want to happen.

Much less in their honeymoon.

 _"Aversa, there's your finger in this, doesn't it?"_ Robin suddenly asked with an annoyed tone, much to Morgan's worry.

 _"In what? I don't know what you two are talking about,"_ the woman's voice echoed in the background. _"Why do you think I would be involved in whatever happened?"_

 _"Morgan suddenly calls to tell me she discovered what Lucina is hiding and she plots an evil plan to force her confess,"_ the Grandmaster bluntly said. _"It all sounds extremely familiar. Even more because Lucina is also the victim and it's related to THAT."_

 _"Really? What a weird coincidence. Maybe it's one of those things about children and parents sharing thoughts, because I never said anything to her,"_ Aversa giggled.

 _"Then why are you smiling like that?"_

 _"Wouldn't you be happy to know our daughter hasn't forgotten her old guys?"_ the woman playfully answered.

 _"Hahahahahaha… You're SOOOOOOOOO clever, you little fox,"_ Robin grumbled.

 _"Would you love me if I weren't like this?"_ the Dark Flier asked teasingly.

 _"If you really want to know, I would love you anyways,"_ Robin then cleared his throat. _"Very well, Morgan. Continue with your plan and keep me updated. If something happens…"_

"I'll call you without hesitation. Don't worry, dad. I know what I'm doing!" Morgan said confident and slightly relieved to know her parents wouldn't argue.

 _"I know you are,"_ the man said before finishing the call.

Morgan remained in the same position for a few seconds, phone still glued to her ear and a confused expression in her face. Then, she put the phone down, scowled and asked herself:

"Was he serious or being sarcastic?"

 _ **Back to the present…**_

"That's probably enough," Morgan concluded after taking a quick look at the time and noticing it had been a few minutes since she left the room.

The girl pocketed her phone, walked towards the door, prepared herself and entered making her best worried face and letting out a long, loud sigh, which echoed in the silent court room and caught the attention of everyone.

"So, did something serious happen?" the judge asked a bit worried at her expression.

The girl sighed again, but this time it was a genuine sigh of uncertainty.

A small part of her wanted to outright say everything she wanted and watch whatever would happen, not worrying too much if the ending would be good or bad, just to finish that story once and for all.

Of course, that wasn't an option and even if it was, that surely wouldn't be the wisest one.

As much as the suspense started to kill even her, she had to go slow and cautiously, carefully taking one step at a time. Only one small mistake and the whole thing would go downhill, taking her, Lucina, Robin and only the gods knew who more together to the land of defeat.

Besides, if she wanted that last second plan to work properly, she had to make all parts of it hit Lucina in the depths of her soul, which would only be possible if Morgan made every little detail feel like a heated knife cutting the princess's skin at an excruciatingly slow speed.

In fewer words, poke the wound as much as she could in the longest time possible.

"Well… Yes, something serious happened," the white-haired girl said with a sad tone.

"What? What happened?" Lucina asked extremely worried. "Is Robin in danger? Is he in problem?"

"Ah… Not exactly…" the attorney rubbed her cheek awkwardly. "But he really needed to talk with me now. If he waited until the trial was over, it could be too late."

"Too late?! Too late for what?!" the princess became even more worried.

"You won't like to know… In fact, nobody will," Morgan bit her lip.

"Bubbles Jr., make us a favor and say it at once. The suspense is getting on my nerves," Gaius loudly said with an irritated tone.

"Yeah! Enough of that! We aren't in a theater play or something like that!" Vaike agreed with the Assassin.

Suddenly, all the Shepherds were nodding or saying something in agreement with the two men.

"Alright, I tried to go slowly, but since you all are so desperate to know, here comes the bomb," Morgan rose her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Father called me because he needs someone to sign some documents he asked to the Plegian Immigration Ministry. It has to be today and the ministry ends all activities at nine thirty, so after the trial, I have to go to the Plegian embassy without delay."

Confused whispers and looks everywhere. Even Seiji and the judge seemed surprised to hear that.

"What does your father want with the Plegian Immigration Ministry?" Noire asked a bit worried.

"Hold your pants," Morgan warned everyone. "He needs those documents because, without them, he'll have to wait days, maybe even months, to move to Plegia."

"MOVE TO PLEGIA?!" Chrom got up from his chair and yelled incredulous.

The court room turned into a huge mess of voices. It was so loud people could hear the audience from outside the Ylissean Court.

"ORDER! ORDER! I DEMAND ORDER!" the judge said severely and beat his hammer many times, but nobody heard him.

"M-move to Plegia?!" Lucina's jaw dropped. "I-impossible! He wouldn't…! He can't…!"

"What will be of the Halidom without the Grandmaster?!" a man in the audience asked worried.

"He's abandoning us! He stabbed us on the back!" another person yelled angrily.

"Robin leaving his duties as the Grandmaster without warning any of us?! Preposterous! There must be some misunderstanding here!" Maribelle said in an unusually loud tone.

"This… This simply… This simply makes no sense!" Laurent mumbled, unable to process what he heard.

"No! Robin wouldn't do that to us!" Nowi sobbed. "He would never abandon us! He defied even death just to be with his friends again! He would never do it! I refuse to believe!"

"Oh, no! Robin's leaving!" Henry, despite being genuinely worried, still had a small easygoing smile in his face. "Who's gonna play Mortal Kombat with me now?!"

"Wait just a second…" Morgan turned to the Sorcerer and glared at him. "You and father played Mortal Kombat without me?!"

"It was when you and your mother were on vacations at the beach," the man calmly explained.

"Oh…"

"I DEMAND SILENCE!" the judge angrily shouted, which made everyone finally quiet down.

With his heart still racing because of Morgan's surprise and his irritation at how noisy and disobedient that audience could be, the judge took a few seconds to calm down before resuming the trial.

"Now that everyone has relaxed, let's proceed with the trial in a CIVILIZED way," he sternly announced, then looked at Morgan. "Ms. Morgan, that information is… extremely hard to believe, at least. I mean, for which reason your father would ever cogitate leaving Ylisse?"

"He isn't just the Grandmaster, he's also the head strategist, leader of the Ylissean Secret Service, commander of the Special Operations Guard, the economics analysis chief and the Exalt's representative," Seiji added for the judge with a worried tone. "He leaving the Halidom would be the same as taking down one of the government's most important pillars. Why would he do something with such disastrous effects?"

Morgan knew it was still early to get confident, but seeing everyone, even Seiji and the judge, believing in her story despite how it contradicted everything they knew about her father made some of her nervousness disappear.

Now, she just had to be careful and play safely.

"I know it sounds obnoxious, especially coming from father, but he's doing it for our own good," Morgan told.

"For our own good?! How can that be for our own good?!" Chrom asked incredulous and confused.

"Since Validar's death and the end of the Grimleal cult, the High Council of Plegia turned the country's law code much stricter than ever to avoid making the same mistakes as before like starting pointless wars or letting horrible governors rule the people. 'Cough!' Gangrel! 'Cough!'"

"I heard that, you little pest!" the former Mad King angrily shouted from the back of the room.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about," the Grandmaster's daughter innocently giggled. "In any case, one of the newest laws they made allows the government of other countries to extradite criminals or suspects of possible criminal actions of Plegian origin back to Plegia, where they'll be judged and, if their guilt is proved, punished according to their own laws."

"And what does it have to do with anything?!" the Exalt shouted.

"Father is naturalized Ylissean, but he was born in Plegia," Morgan began explaining. "He's Plegian and, thanks to all the rumors spreading in Ylisstol, became a suspect of killing Nikolai Loss. In other words, he's a suspect of criminal actions and can be extradited back to Plegia by the Ylissean government."

"WHAT?!" Chrom and Lucina asked in incredulous unison, while the court room turned into a mess of voices.

"Extradite Robin?! But why would we do that?!" Sumia became incredibly shocked. "He saved us from Grima and works for the good of the Halidom as much as we do!"

"Sumia is completely right! We NEVER gave any order to extradite him!" Chrom suddenly added and gave Morgan a stern look. "The Plegian Law Code ALLOWS us to extradite the suspects! It doesn't FORCES us!"

"You all are failing to see the point here," Morgan pinched between her eyes. "Nobody extradited father; father is leaving Ylisse out of his own free will. It's like he's extraditing himself."

Lucina felt a sharp pain in her chest and coughed dryly as her throat closed with angst.

"Extraditing himself?! EXTRADITING HIMSELF?!" the Exalt vociferated in a mix of indignation and shock. "What kind of crazy idea is that?! Wasn't making a whole research team to create a power generator using thunder tomes enough madness?!"

"A power generator that uses thunder tomes?" Miriel frowned. "Why didn't he tell me any of that?"

"Chrom, if father didn't do it, would you or anyone from the royal family do?" Morgan crossed her arms and gave the man an annoyed stare.

"Of course not!" the Exalt loudly answered.

"That's the point!" Morgan affirmed putting both hands on her hips. "He's being accused of committing a crime and instead of sending him to Plegia, where he'll be judged as he should, the royal family protects him, allows him to eat in their house, treats him with luxuries and lets him keep one of the most powerful posts of the Halidom!"

"Of course! We know him! We know he didn't kill the merchant! Why would we extradite him or start treating him differently?!" Lucina got up from her chair and yelled.

"Is it really that difficult to understand?!" the white-haired girl pretended to get angry. "Almost everyone in Ylisstol believes in the rumors! If you protect father now, they'll think you're protecting a criminal! What will happen to you and your family's reputation? The Ylissean royalty's image is already very damaged because of the economic crisis and our current political situation! Do you really think you'll stand ANOTHER blow?!"

"B-but…" Lucina stuttered.

"My good girl, it sounds radical and reckless, but father is doing this to protect you, me, mother and the Shepherds," Morgan gave her client a sad expression. "Staying in Ylisse isn't an option anymore. People will question why the royal family did nothing about the whole case and they may even become aggressive towards us. I mean, we can take care of ourselves, but father prefers not to risk putting anyone in danger. Especially mother."

"Your mom?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes. He's been ridiculously overprotective of her since she got pregnant," the white-haired girl explained. "He even tried to make her choose another place to spend their honeymoon, but mother convinced him she's in condition to fight monsters and creatures ten times their size after nearly frying him with a Bolgadone tome."

All the Shepherds' jaws dropped.

"Wait…" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he tell you?"

The way everyone began demanding explanations or making questions was a clear sign he didn't.

"How long has she been pregnant?!" Cordelia inquired shocked.

"Ah… Maybe one or two months," the Grandmaster's daughter answered a bit unsure.

"All that?! But she doesn't even have any sign of pregnancy!" the red-haired woman became even more shocked.

"And why didn't Robin tell us?!" Sumia got up from her chair and asked a bit indignant.

"How am I supposed to know?" Morgan rose her shoulders. "Just because I'm his daughter doesn't mean I can read his thoughts!"

"P-pregnant?" Lucina lowly stuttered to herself. "It became… much worse than I thought…"

"I can't believe he never said anything!" Lissa said angrily. "If nobody knows about that, nobody can help!"

"Lissa, if what Morgan said is right, there're at least seven months before the baby is born," Lon'qu whispered to his wife.

"But what about the preparations?!" Lissa retorted. "They need to choose the baby's clothes, prepare the room, buy a crest, toys, turn their house safer and adequate for small children, eliminate any bugs or pestilent animals where they live…"

"And prepare everything for Aversa too!" Cordelia suddenly joined. "She'll need a quiet, safe place to take care of the child!"

"By the way, she shouldn't even be in that dangerous place they went!" Sumia added. "How can those two be so irresponsible sometimes?!"

"What about the baby's education?" Maribelle decided to give her opinion as well. "They should be looking for a good school to matriculate their child!"

"Ma, it's a baby. It's too early to think about school," Brady commented.

"And ensure it'll live in an ambient that provides good opportunities for intellectual development," Miriel said adjusting her glasses.

"And physical development too!" Sully shouted.

"A-and not let the baby be bullied by anyone!" Olivia shyly said.

"And buy the baby's first dark magic tome!" Henry happily announced.

"NO DARK MAGIC FOR THE BABY, HENRY!" all the Shepherds except for Morgan, Tharja, Noire, Yen'fay, Say'ry, Gangrel and Emmeryn shouted at the Sorcerer.

"Aw, come on!" the man lamented.

"Order in the court!" the judge demanded beating his hammer, full of the army's nonsense.

"I may have discovered why father kept it a secret…" Morgan lowly commented to herself before clearing her throat to proceed. "In any case, leaving Ylisse is the best for both our army and our family. Away in Plegia, under the High Council's watch, we'll be safe from any possible popular retaliation and the royal family will be free from any possible accusation of protecting a criminal."

"Wait, did you say 'we'?" Gerome asked.

"Of course. If father moves to Plegia, so will mother and me."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Inigo shouted horrified.

"But how long do you plan to stay in Plegia?" Frederick asked worried. "I mean, you aren't considering living there permanently, are you?"

The man's question made everyone look nervously at Morgan.

A bit uncomfortable at all eyes locked on her, the girl sighed and said:

"We plan to return someday, but when that'll happen is impossible to say. It all depends on what will be the outcome of this case."

"What do you mean?" Frederick was a bit hesitant to know the answer.

"If father's innocence is proved, then we'll come back. However, considering how this case isn't making any sense and there're lots of unexplained contradictions on Lucina's testimony and everything else, it may take a lot of time," the girl told. "It may take days, weeks, months, years… Heck, worst case scenario we may really never come back!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Inigo shouted even more horrified.

All the audience began to speak worried and the court room turned a mess of voices again.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer many times. "Calm down, everyone!"

It was useless; the chaos was total.

" _Never come back?"_ Lucina thought worried, cold sweat running down from her forehead all the way to her neck and drenching the collar of her shirt. _"I'll never… never…"_

Amidst the noises and anxious people, a man of black hair and yellow eyes observed the princess's expression with a little sadistic smile threating to appear.

" _Oh, dear… Can you see this?"_ he mentally asked his deceased wife like she was right to his side. _"This surely is MUCH better than I expected."_

Morgan, on other hand, wasn't having so much fun spying the princess's face with the corner of an eye.

" _Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! Say it! FOR NAGA'S FUCKING SAKE, SAY IT!"_ she mentally ordered, feeling all nerves in her forehead bulging violently.

Lucina fidgeted nervously, feeling worry, guilt and fear filling every little inch of her being and making her body painfully stiff.

It wasn't supposed to happen. It should have been just a small lie, something unimportant that nobody would ever discover. A small detail that would go unnoticed and disappear from her memory sooner or later. A stupid thing that could be easily left aside, despite being potentially harmful for her image.

…

It WAS a stupid thing that could be easily left aside, but in her selfishness to protect herself, Lucina ended growing it to an enormous proportion.

The princess called herself a fool for thinking she could defy the law and lie in court without suffering any consequences.

Was it harmful for her image? Thanks to all the rumors that existed about her, yes, it could be, and probably was, very harmful.

But lying was worth it? No, it wasn't. Unfortunately, she only realized that too late.

Now, the damage was done. Lucina not only put her family's name and the government's reputation in risk, but also involved Robin and his family in the mess.

She risked Morgan's life. She risked Aversa's life. She risked the life of a baby that wasn't even born yet.

And above everything else, she risked Robin's life. Now, he had to abandon the Halidom to protect himself and all the people he loved.

Leave everything he conquered with so much hard work behind.

Move to a country that could receive him with open arms or swords and spears.

Leave her forever.

And all because of a stupid…

"STOP IT!" the princess's shout echoed louder than everyone else's voices, making the whole court room fall silent and look at her with intrigued eyes.

"Lucina?" Chrom asked worried.

"I… I…" the girl looked down, trying to voice her thoughts. "I lied… I lied…"

Morgan widened her eyes. Could it be what she thought it was?

"W-what?" both her parents asked in disbelief.

"I lied…" Lucina lowly repeated.

"What did she say?" Lissa whispered to Lon'qu, who couldn't hear the princess very well and just rose his shoulders.

"I lied!" Lucina sobbed.

"W-wait… Do you mean…?" Maribelle looked incredulous.

"I LIED! I LIED! I LIED, I LIED, I LIED, I LIED!" the princess shouted many times, holding her head with both hands and letting large tears fall from her eyes. "I LIED TO EVERYONE! I LIED IN MY TESTIMONY! I LIED BECAUSE I'M A STUPID, SELFISH CHILD! I LIED BECAUSE I FEARED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN! I LIED BECAUSE I WAS SO ASHAMED OF WHAT I DID IT HURT SO MUCH!"

A commotion started. Feelings ranged from shock to anger, indignation to surprise, incredulity to disgust.

And even a bit of relief.

" _Thank the gods, the Divine Dragons, Naga and whoever else is up there! She FINALLY confessed!"_ Morgan happily celebrated in her mind, resisting the will of outright screaming her happiness.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Lucina cried desperately. "I didn't want things to get to this! I know I shouldn't have lied, but I was so scared of what everyone would think of me!"

"S-sister…" Cynthia's heart broke in half at seeing Lucina so devastated.

"It was so stupid of me! Thinking I could lie in court and hide it!" tears dropped from Lucina's face and began forming a small pond on the floor in front of her. "And for something so childish and… and… Urgh! What is wrong with me?!"

" _Wow… I wasn't expecting such an emotional breakdown…"_ Morgan nervously scratched the back of her head, starting to feel a bit guilty.

"So, you finally decided to confess, huh?" Seiji approached the sobbing princess with an emotionless expression, hands on his back. "Better late than never. Now, since you decided to tell the truth, why don't you compensate for all our time you wasted with your obvious lies and face the consequences of your actions like an ADULT?"

"What is wrong with you?! Can't you see she's nearing her limits?!" Sumia angrily shouted at the prosecutor.

"If she's nearing her limits isn't of my interest. She should have thought this could happen before lying in her testimony," Seiji coldly glared at the queen. "Forging of false testimony is a crime severely punished and, although a confession may reduce the punishment, she still needs to face the consequences of her actions."

Chrom and Sumia got ready to argue when they were interrupted by a monotone:

"He's right."

Everyone, even Seiji, turned to the defendant slowly drying her tears and looking at the audience with a humiliated expression.

"He's right. I committed a crime. I lied to my family and my friends. I involved Robin and his family in this. I need to face the consequences, no matter how painful or harsh they may be."

"Lucina…" Sumia felt her heart sinking.

"If you say so…" the young prosecutor crossed his arms and gave Lucina a cold stare. "I invite you to act as my witness and tell us what really happened."

After drying some more tears and taking a second to calm down, the princess took a deep breath, filled herself with courage and nodded, still a bit insecure.

That revelation would be a bomb, especially after all the time she dedicated to keep it hidden and everything Morgan said, but telling the truth was the right thing to do.

If only she had noticed it before…

 **Witness Testimony**

"The story I told you here a few days ago about what happened in the night of the crime… ALMOST all of it is true," Lucina began with a weak voice.

"We all know it," Seiji rolled his eyes. "Do you really think sounding regretful will make things look better for you? Being mostly a lie or a truth, you still lied."

"I know it… I'm just trying to be sincere," the princess sighed.

"It was about time…" Morgan lowly commented.

"What?" Seiji turned to his rival with a confused expression.

"Nothing!" the girl mischievously smiled to him.

Lucina also looked at Morgan with an intrigued stare, having heard her attorney saying something just like the prosecutor, but unsure of what it was. It probably wasn't anything important, so she decided to simply ignore it and continue with her narrative.

"The way I met Sapphire, she inviting me for the festival, how I arrived at the village, what I did there, the reason I entered in Ever Woods and everything that happened in that place… All those things are the purest truth, I swear."

"And BEFORE you arrived at the festival? What happened during that time?" the prosecutor glared at Lucina.

For a moment, all the courage the princess managed to gather nearly disappeared and made her look away with flushed cheeks.

" _Come on! Don't chicken now!"_ Morgan nearly said it aloud.

"I'm waiting for my answer…" Seiji began tapping his foot.

The fear of what could happen if she told the truth returned and almost made Lucina give up on revealing what really happened before she arrived at the festival, but knowing it was too late to turn back or make up another story, the princess shook her head and forced herself to answer the prosecutor's question.

"That's exactly where the story isn't as I told," Lucina ashamedly confessed, looking down at the floor in front of her. "In my original testimony, I said I left the castle at seven fifty-three. It's unnecessary to say it, after all the evidence shown here, but that's a lie."

" _Figures…"_ both the prosecutor and the princess's attorney thought and rolled their eyes in unaware unison.

"I don't know exactly at which time I left the castle, but I think it was seven thirty at most."

Whispers everywhere.

"Why do you think so?" Seiji asked.

"Because, a bit before I left, I saw Hendrick and Carson, two guards that work in the castle, preparing to go back home," Lucina explained. "Their shift ends around seven twenty-five, so it couldn't be much later than that."

More whispers.

"In fact, seeing them preparing to end their days was like a warning telling me I had to leave as soon as possible."

Suspicious stares and comments everywhere.

"Seven thirty at most, huh?" Seiji rubbed his chin with a little smile. "That's way too early to go to Aeternum Village, isn't it? If you went to the village at that time, you would arrive at seven forty or seven forty-five at most."

"Yes, I would," Lucina confirmed.

"So, why did you do it?"

"Because… Ah…" the princess seemed a bit reluctant to speak. "I wanted to go to a shop and it had to be before seven forty-five. The only way to do it would be leaving the castle around seven twenty-five and seven thirty."

"Matches with the time Yubari saw you leaving the castle," the prosecutor smiled confidently. "Now, your story is starting to make more sense. Please, continue."

Lucina sighed loudly and continued.

"I left the castle and headed straight to where I wanted. I don't know when I arrived or how long I stayed there, but I think I arrived not much before seven thirty-five and left around seven forty or something like that."

"Why do you think it was that time?" the judge asked.

"The store opens at seven thirty and the shopkeeper told me he had just opened when I arrived. Also, I spent five or six minutes talking with him before leaving, so I probably left the store around seven forty or forty-one at most." Lucina looked at the judge to answer his question then turned back to the prosecutor. "After that, I went straight to the festival and everything else is exactly like I told before."

"Interesting…" Seiji rubbed his chin thoughtful and stared at Lucina with a menacing smile. "Nothing else to add?"

"No, that's all I have to say."

"In this case…"

 **Direct Examination**

"Ms. Lucina, you decided to finally confess the truth, which is an excellent first step for someone who was blatantly lying until now," the prosecutor sneered, earning glares from Sumia, Cynthia and Chrom. "HOWEVER, I noticed you're still trying to hide something, because, using the exact same words you used, you wanted to go to a shop and it had to be before seven forty-five."

"Y-yes…" Lucina weakly confirmed.

"You never told us which shop or what you wanted there," Seiji got closer to Lucina and looked straight in her eyes. "What were you doing there?"

Lucina didn't answer; not because she didn't want, but because her body simply stopped obeying her in the exact moment the question was made.

Her cheeks turned a light pink, she bit her lip, looked away and began rolling a lock of hair on her right thumb, in a clear sign of nervousness.

"I'm waiting for my answer…" Seiji hummed.

Lucina remained silent.

"What is that? Are you still trying to hide something?" the prosecutor chuckled.

"Yep, she is. Haven't you discovered what yet?" the princess's attorney suddenly asked with a giggle.

Everyone look intrigued at the girl, including the prosecutor and her defendant.

"Uh? What do you mean?" Seiji asked raising an eyebrow.

Morgan mischievously giggled before asking:

"What do you think she was doing?"

"How am I supposed to know?" the boy asked back.

"Think with me: Lucina left the castle much before the time needed because she wanted to go to a store. It had to be before seven forty-five. The farmer you cited saw Lucina in Feather Road sometime before seven thirty-five."

Seiji gave Morgan a confused look.

"Feather Road… seven forty-five… store…" the girl slowly listed the things with a wicked smile in her face. "Where, or better saying, when did we hear something like that and from who?"

Lucina's face became white like a sheet of paper.

"When and who?" the prosecutor repeated the words. "When and who…? Feather Road… store… Forty-five…"

As realization hit him, Seiji looked incredulous at Lucina, whose only reaction was to give him an awkward smile.

"Oh, gods! Oh, gods! OH, MY GODS! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" the boy facepalmed and took a few steps back. "You must be kidding me! Was it all because of THAT?!"

"Yep," Morgan chuckled a bit.

"What? That what? What are you talking about?" Chrom inquired extremely confused.

"Chrom, you won't like to hear it, but…" Morgan turned to the Exalt, trying very hard not to explode in laughter. "Lucina was after the same plush of my father Tharja was looking for."

The court room exploded in noise.

"What?! WHAT?! WHAAAT?!" the blue-haired man's jaw dropped so much it risked breaking. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT IN THE FREAKING HELL?! WHAT IN THE MISERABLE, BURNING, FREAKING HELL?!"

Chrom's face was too much for Morgan; she couldn't resist anymore and started to laugh maniacally.

"YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME! YOU CAN ONLY BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!" the Exalt got up from his chair with bloodshot eyes and the nerves of his forehead bulging. "THERE'S NO WAY IT'S TRUE!"

"If you don't believe, then ask her," Morgan said between chuckles pointing to Lucina, who was hiding her blushing face with both hands.

"L-Lucina…?!" Sumia stared incredulous at her daughter, while Chrom was at the edge of having a heart attack.

"Oh, no… Not THAT story again…" Frederick lowly lamented.

"Here we go… 'Fangirl Princess 2: The Return'. Heh…" Gangrel smiled mockingly while leaning on his chair.

"Fangirl…? What is that?" Emmeryn asked tilting her head.

"Don't worry, Emmeryn. It's absolutely nothing worth knowing," the Plegian dismissed the subject and put both hands on the back of his head.

For all of you who are reading this story right now and thinking this was an extremely stupid and childish reason to lie in court and create all that mess, let me tell you one thing:

YOU'RE COMPLETELY RIGHT! IT WAS AN EXTREMELY STUPID AND CHILDISH REASON TO LIE IN COURT AND CREATE ALL THAT MESS!

However, in Lucina's defense, I must say she had reasons to so desperately keep that hidden.

Maybe not very good ones, but at least there were some.

To understand better what I'm talking about, I need to tell you THIS other story.

 **The Princess and the Tactician (or Fangirl Princess: Director's Edition)**

At the very beginning, Lucina couldn't understand what people saw of so special in that man named Robin.

He didn't look very strong, had no apparent special traits and acted most of the time like a dork. How he managed to become the army's tactician was a mystery to her.

In fact, he also looked very suspicious. I mean, a man that has no memories, but knows her father's name for no apparent reason, mysteriously appears to Chrom, Lissa and Frederick from nowhere and suddenly becomes the Shepherds tactician? That sounded fishy. Even more because she had no recollection of him, despite everyone saying he was Chrom's best friend.

Because of all that, Lucina decided she would keep an eye on that man all the time, to make sure he wasn't some sleeping agent or spy from the enemy.

Of course, Robin, despite indeed being a bit dorky from time to time, was also very perceptive and soon noticed how the princess that came from the future looked at him with suspicious, if not outright threatening, eyes all the time and was always nearby spying what he was doing.

It made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Not only because he already had bad experiences with stalkers (AKA Tharja), but also because it meant Lucina didn't trust him, which automatically meant she didn't like him.

Lucina wasn't just a person that came from another time to Robin; she was the future version of the girl he considered a daughter.

He played with the little Lucina of his time so many times he eventually lost the count; he saw her taking her first clumsy, but also brave steps even before Sumia and Chrom; he even changed her diapers and fed her!

So, the future Lucina not liking him made his poor tactician heart hurt a bit.

Determined to become her friend (like he did with everyone else, to say the truth), Robin decided to approach the girl and spend some time with her doing chores, training or, if possible, just making small talk.

The sudden approach was met with initial distrust and a bit of resistance, but little by little, Lucina eventually opened to Robin, learned more about the white-haired man and discovered some corks of his personality.

First, she was right about Robin being a dork. It wasn't uncommon to see the man getting in trouble or causing some accident due to some of his 'ingenious' ideas or plans. It became so common the Shepherds even had it as part of their daily routine and, if nothing happened during a whole day, they would start worrying about their tactician.

However, it didn't mean he was a stupid person; quite the opposite, Robin was a very intelligent individual. The way he carefully planned everything, even his stupidest ideas, was an irrefutable evidence of his knowledge and care with details.

Heck, Robin was so detailed he would spend days planning even birthday parties.

In the battlefield, he was a monster. Not in the sense of strength or violence, but he was so efficient it scared.

Cold, collected, calculating and unshakable; always giving straight, efficient orders; keeping an eye on everything and everyone; prepared for all situations… Suddenly, Lucina began to understand why he was the tactician.

But while he was a fearsome tactician in battlefield, out of battle he was soft as a marshmallow.

Robin deeply worried about everyone's wellbeing, going to the extreme of sacrificing his own health to ensure the others would be alright. He talked with everyone; checked on everyone's physical and mental conditions every day; helped keep the camp clean and organized; washed clothes; cooked (he wasn't very good at it, but is very decent nowadays); kept the arsenal in good conditions; killed weirds bugs for the women now and then…

He even played with Nowi or joined the others' mischiefs just for fun!

Lucina knew people acted differently according to their surroundings or the people around, but the differences between tactician Robin and regular Robin were so immense it nearly seemed like they were two different people instead of only one.

It made her become even more open to him and even a bit curious.

That curiosity led her to other discoveries; for example, Robin had a hobby of making wood figures of everyone in the army. They weren't super realistic neither incredibly detailed, but they didn't need to be because those figures weren't for decoration; Robin used them to make strategies, positioning each one on a map of the battlefield where their real equivalents would be.

And even if they weren't masterpieces, they still looked very cute.

Another little thing she discovered was his personal training plan. Robin, like already mentioned, isn't one of the army's strongest units in terms of physical strength and he was fully aware of that; so, to compensate, he trained what he had of best:

His speed and skill with tomes.

The training plan he developed for himself looked very weird at first, but the more Lucina saw it the more she understood how it worked. It wasn't centered on launching strong attacks, resisting blows or building physical force like Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour (which Robin tried to skip every time), but to launch as many attacks as possible in the shortest time consuming as least energy as he could.

The result was simple: Robin would never defeat an enemy in one single blow due to a lack of brute force, but he could launch four to five attacks in less than half of the time someone like Lucina or her father would. Attacks that were very hard to predict or counter, by the way.

However, despite his skills with the sword being very good, Robin's true talent was in his superb ability to use tomes.

It didn't matter which kind of tome it was, he would learn how to use and perfect it. Some took more time, some less, but he always found a way to become a master.

There was a little issue with dark magic tomes that, for a reason that remained unknown until they discovered he had the Fell Dragon's blood, always became overcharged and went out of control, which led Robin to ultimately consider them a 'last resort' and avoid using them, but that was just a small blur in a somewhat impeccable profile.

Sure, since that special training he developed for himself was focused on speed and agility instead of physical strength, he would never become strong or muscular like Chrom or Vaike, for example, but it never bothered him or anyone else. In fact, too much muscular mass would increase his weight and consequentially decrease his speed, killing one of his biggest assets.

Besides, too many muscles wouldn't look good on him. Robin's more slender body matched perfectly with his delicate features, making him look more prince like than Chrom, who was an actual prince.

…

Why was she thinking that kind of thing? Why was she so interested in knowing more about that weird man that came from nowhere?

Why did she look up for the chores they would do together? Or wanted to train more and more with him? Or talk about anything just to kill some time? Or why was she noticing how stunningly dashing he looked whenever the wind messed his hair and playfully covered part of his face with it?

Something was wrong, she just didn't know what.

What did she do? She asked her parents for help like any good girl would.

After telling Chrom and Sumia what was happening and questioning what it could be, she looked at her father's face and nearly let a scared gasp escape her mouth. Chrom wasn't just surprised; he was clearly and utterly shocked, maybe even horrified.

Her father's face made Lucina worry it could be something very serious, but then she looked at her mother and became extremely confused.

She didn't look surprised or jaw dropped like her husband; instead, she had a very large and mischievous grin on her face.

Perplexed by their contrasting reactions, Lucina asked what was wrong and her mother's only answer was a straight and playful:

"Seems like someone has a crush."

Lucina nearly fell backwards from hearing that.

A crush? For Robin?! It couldn't be true!

He was the army's tactician and she was the daughter of the army's general! Such a thing was immoral (maybe) and would cause a scandal!

Besides, there was no way she would develop a crush for Robin; he was way too dorky and clumsy for her taste. Alright, he did have a sweet personality, tons of talents, impressive intelligence, a good sense of humor, a strong paternal presence to all the younger members of the army (and Nowi), a cute face, a nice body, a white hair that always made her go nuts whenever he adjusted…

…

Lucina was forced to admit she had a crush for Robin, but it didn't mean she had to confess to him or start a relationship, right?

Right, and that was exactly what she would do: ignore her feelings for the good of everyone. If she ignored them, they would disappear sooner or later, correct?

Wrong, they never disappeared; in fact, they only got stronger with every passing day and the rest of the Shepherds eventually noticed them.

Not that it was too hard considering that Lucina would keep her eyes locked on Robin whenever he was close, blush at any small compliment he gave her or tremble more than an unstable wood bridge whenever he touched her, but…

What were their opinions on the matter? Well:

60% of them (Sumia and Cynthia included here) openly encouraged the princess to reveal her feelings, believing they were perfect for each other (AKA shipping them);

25% of them decided to stay quiet and not give their opinions on the matter, although some of them secretly shared the first 60% beliefs;

10% of them were outright against the idea of Lucina and Robin dating (Chrom, Tharja and Inigo to a certain extent included here); and

The rest had no idea of what was happening.

Despite almost all the Shepherds making very clear they deeply believed Lucina and Robin were a perfect match and she shouldn't worry so much about what the others thought or said, the princess insisted on keeping her silence. There were already too many ill rumors about her relationship with the tactician spreading around the Halidom to make a confession a good idea, even if she was inwardly dying to have him for her and solely for her.

Besides, who knew if Robin would accept her feelings? The tactician made very clear more than once that Lucina was like a daughter to him. A DAUGHTER.

Lucina could even see the scene in her mind: she would approach Robin, he would greet her with that beautiful smile of his like he always did, she would nervously reveal her feelings, ask him if he wanted to be her companion for the rest of their lives, Robin would stare confused at her, think it was a joke, laugh a bit, notice it wasn't a joke, stare shocked at her, smile awkwardly, say he didn't like her that way or something like that, take a few steps back, apologize and quickly leave.

No, it would be too much. He wasn't just a crush anymore, he was the man of her life. If he rejected her, Lucina's heart wouldn't survive the injury.

Silence was the best option.

Or at least she thought that until that fatidic day at the Dragon's Table, when Robin's identity as Validar's son and the avatar of Grima was revealed.

Something changed in the Shepherds' tactician that day; his smile disappeared, sadness filled every little inch of his being and he isolated himself from everyone.

Seeing him like that was torturing; Lucina couldn't stand to see the man that would always find a way to make her smile suffering so much. She had to do something.

What did she do? She talked with him, comforted him, gave him a friendly shoulder to hold on and said in good and high tone that, no matter where he was born, for which reason or who was his family, he always was and would always be her… correction, THEIR Robin.

What Robin did after that? He smiled. Not much and very weakly, but he still smiled. More than that, he hugged Lucina and thanked her.

Lucina never felt the light of paradise on her skin, but was sure Robin's touch was exactly like that. The proximity was incredibly dazzling; she could hear his breathing, feel his warmth, smell the faint scent of countless candles used night after night stuck in his hair…

Above everything else, she could see his smile. That beautiful, irresistible smile he had that always told her everything was okay.

In that day, Lucina made a promise to herself: after Grima was defeated and the war was over, she would confess everything to Robin.

The rumors, her image, what the others would think of a member of the royal family having a relationship with someone so important and powerful in the Ylissean government, how much her father would disapprove that decision, the Fell Dragon's blood running through his veins… None of that mattered anymore.

Lucina only wanted to make Robin happy; to make him smile all day, every day for all the days they had left in their lives.

She wanted to have Robin for her and just her.

…

Of course, you all know that NEVER happened.

Only a few days after that, life sent a little surprise to the Shepherds in the shape of Dark Flier Aversa.

How the former tactician of the Grimleal survived their last confront or how she managed to join the group was a mystery, but, before anyone noticed, she was already among them.

Due to all the problems they had with each other, the Shepherds weren't very receptive to Aversa and neither was the woman to them. During the first days after her recruitment, Aversa stayed isolated from the others, showing little to no interest in anything or anyone besides herself. As response, nobody showed any sympathy or friendship to her, just ignoring her presence whenever she was nearby.

Nobody, with ONE exception.

Maybe thanks to his caring nature, his ability to easily forgive or his inability to understand when he was playing with fire, Robin approached Aversa and tried to socialize with her. The first attempts weren't very fruitful and some even ended with them bitterly arguing, but for some reason, the tactician insisted on returning every to speak with her every single day.

Not surprisingly, it caused them to argue practically all the time, sometimes for the smallest or stupidest things. It became so common the Shepherds got used to that and playfully referred to it as 'part of their regular routine'. Even Lucina, who was initially 'worried' (in other words, jealous) of Robin trying to speak with Aversa every day, ended dismissing it as nothing important and, in a certain way, discarded the Dark Flier as possible 'competition'.

However, that was the biggest mistake Lucina and, to say the truth, everyone who wanted her and Robin to be together made.

By dismissing the tactician and the Dark Flier constantly arguing as nothing, they missed one small detail that was the biggest alert to what was about to happen:

Aversa and Robin argued all day, every day, because they were TOGETHER ALL THE TIME.

If they didn't get along well or disliked each other, then why were they always together?

Simple: because they got along well and liked each other.

Robin rarely argued with anyone and when he did, it was never like he did with Aversa. It may sound like a bad thing at first, but for the tactician, it had a whole different meaning.

He didn't have to hold anything to himself. He never needed to hide something he thought. He could say absolutely everything he wanted without fear or shame. In other words, he had a freedom to speak with Aversa he never had with anyone else, not even Chrom. It wasn't just good for him, it was excellent! Simply and incredibly wonderful!

For Aversa, it was much deeper than that.

During her whole life, she was a seductress that led many men to their doom with her cunning nature, cold personality and by doing and saying everything they wanted, just to buy their confidence and stab them on the back when the time came.

With Robin, though, things were very different. He never wanted her to say what he wanted; he wanted her to say what SHE wanted. No matter how rude or cynical she was, Robin would always come back to speak with her again even if she angered him the day before. The way he looked at her wasn't the same disgustingly lustful stares she received from the men she seduced, but an innocent look of genuine care. He never commented or asked anything about her body or her clothing, but about her hobbies, her tastes, her opinions…

Her feelings. Nobody never asked her how she felt, not even Validar. Aversa will never admit it, but deep down, that was something she always wanted someone to ask her.

Thanks to all those things, Robin and Aversa ironically bonded through arguments. Arguments that happened three or four times a day, then three or two, then two or one, then only one…

Until the day they didn't argue.

The sudden silence got all the Shepherds by surprise and made some of them worried about the two, but it made Lucina especially suspicious that something was happening.

More days came and went and the arguments reduced to only one or two per week. Robin and Aversa were always seem together doing something around the camp, training together, talking, reading tomes of dubious nature (interpret however you want) or just slacking off.

Believe it or not, Robin convinced Aversa to at least try to become the others' friend and, even mores surprisingly, he managed to make the others sympathize with her.

In exchange, Aversa helped Robin at using dark magic (he's still not very good at it, by the way), taught him some of the strategies used by the Grimleal, how to mount a Pegasus (not very good at it, as well) and even showed him how to use a lance.

And, not surprisingly, all that sudden proximity between them deeply bothered Lucina.

Not only was Robin spending more time with Aversa than with her, but he also STOPPED spending time with her to stay with Aversa.

What was happening? She was a former enemy, someone they couldn't trust and, on top of all that, a damned seductress! Why would Robin be so good to the same woman that tried to kill him before and caused so much pain to many people?

Could Aversa have seduced him? No, Robin wouldn't fall for her low tricks.

Could Aversa have cursed him?! No, if that was the case, Tharja or Henry would surely have commented something.

So, could it be that Robin… liked her?

The thought sent shivers down Lucina's spine. There was no way that would happen. Robin would never fall for someone like Aversa. He couldn't. He simply couldn't.

Or could he?

…

Of course he could. What said he couldn't? Love was blind and sometimes deaf, so who knew if that miserable, disgusting, second category poor excuse of a woman managed to make the deliciously perfect Robin fall for her?

It was completely possible and that possibility scared Lucina.

She could be at the brink of losing Robin to someone else, and to a person she despised, adding insult to injury. All her dreams of spending a lovely life at the tactician's side would become true to another woman. That despicable bitch would do everything Lucina wanted to do with Robin and she wouldn't be able to stop it.

It was too much; she simply couldn't let that happen. She had to act and it had to be immediately.

She didn't care if that wasn't the best time or best place; she would confess to Robin and make him be hers before anyone else could.

Unfortunately, as sadistic as it may sound, the same day Lucina decided to confess her feelings to Robin was the day said tactician proposed to Aversa.

Unnecessary to tell you what was her answer.

After that, life had many ups and downs, lefts and rights, hits and misses, but two things became undeniable truths not only for Lucina's mind, but her heart as well:

First, Robin was, from that day on, completely and painfully unreachable.

Second, it was all Aversa's fault.

 _ **Back to Morgan Ace Attorney…**_

"You must be kidding me!" Seiji growled, launching an incredulous glare at Lucina. "That can only be another lie!"

"Listen, I can't blame you for not believing after everything I said and did in this trial, but as ridiculous and stupid as it may sound, this is the truth!" Lucina angrily said, her cheeks a deep red. "If you want evidence, then ask the shopkeeper of Sparkly Eyes! He'll confirm I was there!"

"But why on Earth would you create this whole mess just to hide THAT kind of thing?!" the prosecutor asked still unable to understand the princess's line of thought.

"Do you know what people used to say about me and Robin in the streets of this country?!" the princess asked back irritated. "It took us a lot of time and effort to make those ill rumors die and if they discovered I was after the plush, it would start everything again! Morgan herself said my family's reputation is very damaged because of the economic crisis we're having, so imagine if that story became public knowledge!"

"And lying in court surely was a much better idea…" the prosecutor crossed his arms and shook his head.

Lucina wanted to argue, but couldn't find the words to use and fell silent.

"I knew it!" Tharja suddenly announced getting up from her chair and glaring at Lucina. "I knew it was you!"

"Uh?" the defendant, her attorney and the prosecutor looked confused at the Sorceress.

"When the shopkeeper told me a girl wearing a trash bag appeared asking for the Robin plush before me, I knew it was you!" Tharja accused.

"Trash bag?!" Lucina contorted her face in indignancy.

"That isn't TOO far from the truth…" Morgan commented.

"Morgan, shut up!"

"Tell me where you hid the Robin plush!" Tharja angrily ordered.

"I don't have it," Lucina answered looking away.

"I'm not buying your lies. Tell me where you hid the Robin plush NOW," the sorceress's eyes shone with killing intent.

"I don't have it!" Lucina insisted.

"Tell me NOW!"

"I DON'T FREAKING HAVE IT!" the princess shouted in irritation.

"Why would I believe you after all the lies you told here? I know you got it and I know it isn't in your room!"

…

"Darn it…" Tharja facepalmed.

"IT WAS YOU WHO INVADED MY ROOM!" Lucina got up from the witness seat and pointed an accusing finger at Tharja.

The sudden revelation turned the court room into a mess of voices and comments.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer.

"Oh, boy… Exactly what I feared…" Morgan pinched between her eyes and shook her head.

"Alright, I admit. It was me who invaded your room," Tharja sighed in annoyance and sat again. "Not a great thing…"

"What do you mean with that?! You invaded my room! Of course it's a great thing!" Lucina shouted indignant. "And if invading my room wasn't enough, you turned the place into a war zone!"

"Don't blame me for that, because I never wanted to mess anything in your room," Tharja affirmed nonchalant, crossing her arms "The curse I used should unlock your door and ONLY that, but it went out of my control and affected the rest of your room. It was a mere accident."

"Explains the mess and the dark magic readings in the door…" Morgan commented to herself before turning to look at the woman. "Wait, if you only planned to unlock the door and all the damage the curse caused was unintentional, why didn't you try to fix things? I mean, it would make much harder to discover someone entered in Lucina's room."

"First, because the curse broke the lock, which would make obvious to anyone with two neurons the room was invaded. Second, I didn't have time. I made the mistake of doing it too close to the time the guards usually patrol the hall where her room is, which forced me to abandon everything the way it was. And last, but not least, the only thing I wanted was the plush. If it wasn't there, then there was no reason to stay."

Tharja then glared at Lucina.

"Now, tell me where is the plush!"

"For the last time, I don't have it!" Lucina clenched her fists, angered at the woman's insistence.

"I know you have! Otherwise, why would the shopkeeper tell me the girl that went to the store before me got it?!"

"I don't know!" the princess shouted. "When I arrived at Sparkly Eyes, the shopkeeper told me another person arrived before me and bought the plush! I left the store empty handed!"

"What?! That's a lie! I know it is!" Tharja accused.

"It isn't! The shopkeeper will confirm it!" Lucina retorted.

"But if someone else got the plush, why didn't he tell me that?!"

Actually, he told, but Tharja was so concentrated planning a way to snatch the plush from Lucina she didn't hear that part.

"I can't believe it… I had all that work for nothing?" the Sorceress's face darkened and she bit her lip in irritation.

"And destroyed my door and my room for nothing!" Lucina added angrily. "I'm the one who should be complaining!"

"Give me a break… You should be thankful I was civil enough not to take any of the rare stuff you keep hidden behind your closet."

Lucina's face turned white.

"Rare stuff? Hidden behind the closet?!" Chrom repeated intrigued and turned to Tharja. "What are you talking about?!"

"Oh, don't you know?" the woman smiled evilly. "Lucina has a collection of Robin related stuff hidden behind her closet."

Lucina began sweating cold.

"WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAAAT?!" Chrom shouted in disbelief.

"And some of the stuff she has is veeeeeeery rare. And expensive…" Tharja giggled darkly.

"WHAT?! LUCINA!" the Exalt turned to give his daughter a fulminant glare.

"And I was scolded for buying a smartphone…" Cynthia lowly grumbled to herself and pouted a bit.

"Do you know what is the best part? There are ALL kinds of stuff in her collection," Tharja continued. "Posters, action figures, toys, books, pencils… Even the cards they were making of us. Only the ones that have Robin, of course."

"Do you have the one with Robin holding a Thoron tome? It's the only I need to finish my collection," Owain shyly asked his cousin.

"Do you have the body pillows?!" Morgan mischievously joined the conversation.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Lucina shouted embarrassed.

"Just to make sure father and I confiscated all of them," the white-haired girl giggled.

"Wait… are there… body pillows?"

"WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?!" Chrom yelled, his face turning a deep red.

"Lucina likes Robin? I didn't know that!" Donnel said in innocent surprise.

"You must be kidding me…" Sully nearly facepalmed.

And now you know Donnel was part of the 'rest'.

"The rumors were true! She wants the Grandmaster!" a man in the audience got up and pointed a finger at Lucina.

"But he's a married man! And has a daughter, for the gods' sake!" another man added.

"How can she have desires for someone married? That's immoral and indecent!" a woman commented.

"And he's the Exalt's right hand man! What kind of rubbish is that?!"

"The prickly prosecutor was right! She was trying to save her own skin!"

"Prickly prosecutor?!" Seiji growled.

"And put the Grandmaster's name in risk to protect herself even after everything he did for us and her! What a monster!"

"Urgh! I'm gonna vomit!"

Another explosion of protests and angry comments happened. The judge tried in vain to control the situation, while the Shepherds and the other half of the audience restarted the hostilities.

The only people who remained quiet were Morgan, who was slightly worried things went a bit too farther than they should; Seiji, who was pinching between his eyes and trying very hard to accept the kind of stupid case he was put into and the yellow-eyed man in the audience, who observed everything with a wide, evil smile in his face.

" _Sweet, sweet revenge…"_ he mentally hummed, while the other people around him continued arguing.

The commotion would have continued for more three or four minutes if Lucina hadn't shouted a very loud and angry:

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped speaking and looked at the defendant.

"Lucina?" Morgan tilted her head.

"You want to hear me say it, don't you?! You all want me to say it aloud and for everyone to hear, don't you?!"

"Lucina?" Cynthia looked worried at her sister.

"You want me to say it, so you can start spreading the rumors again, don't you?!"

"Lucina…" Sumia muttered.

"Fine! I'll give you what you want! I'll say what you want to hear, because I'm tired of hearing people talking about me by the back, tired of fearing how people look at me, tired of fearing what people will think of me, but above everything else, because I'm tired of lying to myself!"

"L-Lucina…" Chrom stuttered worried.

"Yes, I love Robin! He was and still is the man of my life! I've never loved anyone else like I love him!" Lucina got up from the seat, fists clenched and a deep red in her cheeks. "He's absolutely everything I could wish in a man and even his defects complement who he is! I want to be at his side, hold his hand, hear his voice talking with me, spend the rest of my life with him…!"

Lucina sighed, sat again and ran a hand on her hair.

"But I know I can't…" the princess said with a defeated tone. "Robin… loves someone else. His heart belongs to another woman and I… I can't do anything, but accept it."

"Lucina…" Sumia felt her heart extremely heavy.

"I know I shouldn't… still have feelings for him…" Lucina tried to hold a tear. "But that's how much I love him. A part of me can't… no…" she shook her head. "A part of me doesn't want to accept I can't have him. That idea is simply… unbearable."

The princess leaned on the chair and looked at the floor in front of her.

"That's why I began collecting every kind of stuff related to him. I want Robin with me, always, and only for me. Even if it's just an illusion, I want to feel like he's at my side, all the time, whenever I need or wish so."

"And, despite how much you love him, you risked his reputation to save your own?" Seiji coldly asked with a disapproving tone.

Those words hit Lucina like a sharp knife piercing through her chest. Not because of Seiji's coldness or how he made his sentence, but because they were true.

"Yes, I let my selfishness blind me," the princess ashamedly admitted. "I was so scared of what the people of Ylisse, my friends and even my family would think of me I completely ignored Robin's wellbeing. And not only his, but of his family as well. Even…" Lucina gritted her teeth. "Aversa."

" _Oh, boy…"_ Morgan scratched the back of her head.

"I know it's too late for this and that it won't change anything, but…" Lucina looked at the audience and the Shepherds with teary eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I disappointed you all. I lied to you all. I promised I wouldn't let this hurt anyone else ever again and I failed. I'm really, really sorry."

The princess looked at Morgan.

"Especially to you."

The sudden apology made Morgan feel extremely awkward. Not so much because it was unexpected, but mostly because it was kind of her fault Lucina was exposed during the trial like that.

Okay, it wasn't 'kind of' her fault; it WAS her fault.

"No worries, Lucina! What's in the past is in the past and it doesn't matter anymore!" the white-haired girl nervously smiled, trying to hide her awkwardness.

"That's exactly where you're wrong, Morgan," Seiji affirmed with a serious tone, turning to look at his rival.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

"What happened in the past is indeed in the past, but it still matters!" the prosecutor put both hands on his back. "She lied in court and forged a false testimony. Even if she has confessed, the time we lost with her lie was precious! She must…"

He turned to Lucina and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

Lucina cringed in her chair and the Shepherds began protesting.

"She already confessed! What else do you want?!" Cynthia vociferated.

"I want JUSTICE!" Seiji retorted.

"Justice?! That sounds more like tyranny!" Stahl yelled.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded beating his hammer. "Some of you may disagree, but Mr. Seiji is right. Having confessed or not, the defendant has committed a crime. Forging of false testimony is an unacceptable action and is punished with arrestment."

Lucina felt all the nerves of her body tensing and Morgan gulped loudly, inwardly hoping the next part of her plan would work.

"However…"

Dramatic silence.

"She confessed. The Ylissean Law Code clearly states a confession turns the punishment lighter."

Both Morgan and Seiji widened their eyes, but for different reasons.

"As such, the defendant will be punished for lying in court, but she won't be arrested."

All the Shepherds began celebrating, while Morgan sighed relieved. At least something worked as planned without surprises or the need of tying loose ends.

"Your Honor, her lie made us lose time that could be used for the real point of this case, which is Nikolai Loss's death," Seiji tried reasoning with the judge. "Even if she confessed, we…"

"Mr. Seiji, the Ylissean Law Code states the confession turns the punishment lighter."

"Yes, I know it and I understand why, but her irresponsibility…"

"This court works according to the law."

"B-but…"

"Understood?"

…

"Yes, Your Honor," Seiji sourly said and stepped back.

"Good," the judge nodded then looked at Lucina. "Does the defendant have anything else to say?"

"No, Your Honor. I said everything I wanted," Lucina dried a few tears that escaped her eyes.

"In this case, you may return to your place."

Lucina thanked the judge, got up and returned to her chair with a small, but serene smile in her face.

It wasn't easy, but telling the truth and finally voicing her feelings took an enormous weight of her shoulders. She even began wondering why she didn't do it before!

Oh, yes… Rumors and stuff.

Talking about rumors, the judge's decision created diverging opinions. Although the Shepherds and some members of the audience seemed satisfied with his decision or at least accepted it, a few others were clearly unhappy.

So, despite the Shepherds celebration and the calm silence of the other part of the audience, the air felt even thicker than any other day before.

"Very well, you won't be arrested for forging false testimony, BUT this isn't over yet," Seiji announced launching a glare at Lucina. "Your story, although now matching with the testimonies of the other witnesses and solving the time discrepancy, doesn't prove you haven't killed Nikolai Loss."

Whispers everywhere.

"But it proves…" Lucina tried to argue.

"It proves you weren't doing anything wrong before arriving at the festival, but it has nothing to do with what you did while you were inside Ever Woods, does it?" the prosecutor smiled mockingly.

"Uh… No…" the princess admitted.

"So, maybe you didn't do anything to kill Nikolai BEFORE arriving in Aeternum Village, but he was killed in Ever Woods. You have the shopkeeper of Sparkly Eyes to prove you were in his shop between seven thirty and seven forty-five, but do you have anyone who can prove you didn't kill Nikolai inside the forest?"

"N…no…" Lucina lamented.

"Just like I th—"

"There is someone, actually," Morgan suddenly interrupted Seiji.

All eyes turned to the young attorney.

"What? Really?" Seiji inquired perplexed.

"Yes, there is" the Grandmaster's daughter confirmed. "I may have discovered someone who was in Ever Woods close to the time the crime happened."

Comments and whispers everywhere.

"Order!" the judge demanded. "Ms. Morgan, who would be that person?"

"Better question, if you found someone, why didn't you say anything before?" Seiji asked intrigued.

"Because of the time discrepancy," Morgan began explaining, looking at her nails. "I discovered strong evidence that connects that person to a specific event of that night, but before Lucina confessed, I couldn't summon him to the witness seat, because his testimony would conflict with Lucina's."

Yarne widened his eyes. A specific event? In Ever Woods? Him?

Could it mean…?

"And since there are undeniable evidence connecting that person to that event, it would automatically make Lucina's testimony a lie. If that happened, she would be arrested for forging of false testimony."

Seiji rose an eyebrow and looked suspiciously at Morgan. She needed Lucina's confession to make that evidence safe to use in court without the princess being arrested for lying.

And the confession happened right after Morgan said how Lucina's lie was hurting Robin's reputation.

And Lucina confessed because her feelings for Robin made her so filled with guilt she couldn't take it anymore.

Maybe it was just his impression, but Seiji had the faint feeling there was something happening in the background while Lucina was on the witness seat.

"But now that she confessed and the time discrepancy was eliminated, I can safely summon that person to the witness seat without fear."

"Who's the person?" the judge asked intrigued.

"Someone who is also related to the mysterious animal Henry heard inside Ever Woods in the same night Nikolai Loss was killed, which is the same animal who was chased by a flying creature sometime earlier."

The audience began commenting Morgan's statement. Amidst the people, one person felt all the nerves of his body tensing and cold sweat running down his forehead.

"Someone related to the animal?" the judge looked confused. "You discovered what animal it was? And that it had an owner?"

"Not exactly that, Your Honor," Morgan corrected. "The right thing to say would be: the animal is the someone I mentioned."

Confused whispers everywhere.

"The animal is the… What is that supposed to mean?" Seiji inquired with a glare.

"After some search, my men discovered a few strings of fur that were left by the animal while he fled from the flying creature. A trail of paw marks shows the animal went from his original position to Ever Woods. A DNA test was made to collect genetic material and the results were fascinating!"

"And they would be?" the prosecutor asked.

"The fur had a DNA that's fifty percent human genetic material and fifty percent of something unknown," Morgan revealed.

"Something unknown? Since when something unknown can be used as evidence to anything?!" Seiji retorted irritated.

"It couldn't be used IF we hadn't found a DNA that matches perfectly with the one we extracted from the fur!"

The court room became a mess of voices.

"Order! Order!" the judge began beating his hammer.

"I-I need to go to the bathroom!" Yarne nervously said to his mother, got up from his chair and quickly tiptoed to the door while Morgan wasn't looking at him.

"You found a DNA that matched perfectly with the animal's?" Seiji asked incredulous. "But how on Earth would that be possible?"

"Simple, because that DNA belongs to a person that not only is a person, but also matches the animal's description perfectly. And that person is…"

Morgan turned to the audience and pointed at a boy who was about to leave the room.

"YARNE!"

"Eek!" the Taguel yapped and froze in place.

All eyes turned to Yarne and stared at him with curiosity and suspicion.

"Yarne?" Panne looked confused at her son.

"Hey, Yaaaaaarneeeee…" Morgan evilly cooed.

"Y-yes?" the boy forced himself to look at the girl.

"Come here and put your fluffy butt on the witness seat," Morgan pointed to the chair in the middle of the room.

"D-do I really have to?" Yarne smiled awkwardly and used the most innocent tone he could. "I-I was just a-about to go…"

"YES," a devilishly wide grin appeared in the girl's face as the marks of the Shadowgift inherited from Aversa shone a venomous purple.

"O-okay…" Yarne closed the door and unwillingly walked towards the witness seat.

As he passed, people stared at him and whispered to the closest person.

"What do you think Yarne has to do with this whole thing?" Vaike asked to Nowi.

"I dunno. Do you know something, Nah?" the Manakete then asked her daughter.

"I don't know and don't want to," the girl pouted.

"Hey, why the sudden grumpiness?" Nowi pouted back.

"Nothing," Nah turned her face away.

Extremely uncomfortable with the situation he found himself into, Yarne clumsily sat on the witness seat and fidgeted nervously, all the eyes locked on him making the already awkward moment even worse.

"How are you, bunny?" Morgan approached Yarne with a wide smile.

"D-don't call me bunny!" the boy argued.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION."

"Uh… I'm fine… M-maybe…"

"Maybe? Why is that so?" Morgan put her face so close to Yarne's the boy could feel the air she exhaled touching his skin.

"Y-you're making me a b-bit nervous…"

"What? Am I making you nervous? Oh, that's soooooo sad!" Morgan dramatically said. "And do you know what is even sadder?"

"W-what?" Yarne immediately regretted asking.

"THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING," Morgan evilly smiled, exhibiting the Shadowgift's menacing purplish glow.

" _I'm so freaking screwed!"_ Yarne inwardly lamented, feeling a few tears of fear escaping his eyes.

If extinction wasn't waiting for him, then a lot of pain and humiliation was.

And both were extremely uninviting.

 **To be continued…**

 _I have some notes to make and things to explain, so let's go little by little, one thing at a time._

 _ **First note:**_ _I'm very sorry for the extremely long time I took to update. After the last chapter, I had an idea for a new story and after the first chapter was done, I proceeded to update the other story I have._

 _Yes, having three stories in progress at the same time is probably a very imprudent thing to do when you're still relatively new to the site and the whole thing of updating stories, but it was a challenge I was willing to try._

 _Besides, I REALLY wanted to make that other story too. :p_

 _ **Second note:**_ _I'll probably start college next year (if everything goes right, that is), so the updates will become a bit… Rarer?_

 _I don't think that's the right word to use, but you got what I meant._

 _I'll try to update at least once per month, but I can't promise anything. I hope you understand._

 _ **Third note:**_ _I'm going on a vacations trip with my family in a few weeks! Nothing better to recharge the batteries than some family time!_

 _So, because of that, I wanted to tell you there will be no updates for any of my stories in January._

 _Talking about that, if someone knows if I can leave a notification or anything of the kind in my other stories without having to publish a new chapter just to repeat this, I would be very thankful if you could tell me._

 _With all this said, it's time to finish this chapter and proceed to the next one._

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 _See you later!_


	13. The Unexpected Censored Truth

_I know, it's been a hiatus of MONTHS and I'm very sorry for such a long delay, but I have an explanation for this._

 _It isn't a very good one, I must admit, but I really hope you can understand._

 _Of course, that comes later. Now, we have the story!_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Fire Emblem in an intellectual property of Nintendo. Any other Nintendo character, franchise or alike mentioned in this story also belongs to Nintendo. Anything else from other companies doesn't belong to Nintendo, but to the other companies that aren't Nintendo. I only own the characters that don't belong to other companies or Nintendo._

 _Why am I saying Nintendo so much? Because…_

 _IT'S NINTENDO!_

…

 _It's because I have a habit of saying what I'm writing aloud and I like the sound of Nintendo. Because I had this stupid idea and repeated it a lot like a retard, which was kinda funny (also a bit embarrassing), I decided to carry it over to the disclaimer._

…

 _Yes, I'm that much of an idiot…_

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 13: The Unexpected Censored Truth**

 **Court room, Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 06:18 PM**

If you look for the definition of 'bravery' in a dictionary, you'll probably find something among the lines of:

The quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear or difficulty (taken from /dictionary/bravery)

In other words, being brave isn't just about not being afraid, but facing the fear despite how much your inner survival instincts tell you to run away to the hills as fast as your legs can.

Following that logic, one could say Yarne wasn't a complete coward like most people (himself included) seemed him. He surely had lots of fears and that was undeniable, but the simple fact that he fought to the very end to bring peace to the Halidom of Ylisse, despite how much he was scared, was a very strong evidence of how brave he truly was.

That bravery didn't appear all the time, that's true, but Yarne showed to be more than capable of displaying exemplar courage in many occasions.

Unfortunately, the occasion he found himself stuck into surely wasn't one of them.

"Tell me, bunny, are you ready to start?" Morgan asked with a large evil grin, the Shadowgift still glowing menacingly.

"N-no…" the boy weakly muttered.

"Bad for you. I asked just to be polite," the girl giggled maliciously.

Yarne felt all the nerves of his body tensing and cold sweat running down his forehead as he clenched his fists in a mix of irritation and regret, resisting the urge of grabbing his own ears and pulling them.

He shouldn't have lied to Morgan. He should've known the truth would surface sooner or later. Even worse, he should've told Morgan what really happened when he still had time.

What could the girl be planning? Knowing how sadistic Morgan could be, surely nothing good.

It was made even worse because she knew he blatantly lied to her, automatically meaning whatever she had in mind wasn't just to fulfill her role as Lucina's attorney, but also to get revenge.

" _Darn it! Darn it! Darn it, darn it, darn it, darn it!"_ Yarne repeated many times in his head. _"Why did I do that?! Why didn't I tell Morgan before?!"_

Unsatisfied, the regret of hiding the truth from the Grandmaster's daughter decided that hammering the boy's poor consciousness wasn't enough and decided to invite a friend to join the party.

A friend that was also related to something he never told Morgan, but wasn't particularly related to the case.

"Wait just a moment, the DNA from the fur matches with…" Seiji pointed a finger to Yarne. "Him?"

"Exactly," Morgan put both hands behind her back and smiled victorious.

"But how did you discover that?" the judge asked intrigued.

"At first, it was just a deduction," Morgan turned to look at the elderly man. "The DNA found in the fur was, like I already said, fifty percent human genetic material and fifty percent of something we don't… better saying, DIDN'T know."

Morgan then turned to the audience.

"After a bit of thought, I realized something."

"And that would be…?" Seiji asked genuinely confused.

"The animal's description matched one thing I already saw before which is…" Morgan then turned to point a finger at Yarne. "A Taguel!"

Comments and whispers everywhere.

"Order! Order!" the judge beat his hammer two times.

"A Taguel?" Seiji raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, a Taguel," the white-haired attorney nodded. "More specifically, the rabbit like form Yarne and Panne assume when using a Beaststone."

"How does a rabbit like creature match what was seen close to Ever Woods?" the prosecutor deadpanned.

"I'm glad you asked, Seiji, because that's exactly where I wanted to get!" Morgan smiled gladly. "The transformed form of Yarne looks like a rabbit, has the ears of a rabbit, the tail of a rabbit and the PAWS OF A RABBIT, however, his body is big as a BEAR, despite being slim like a WOLF."

Many people, the Shepherds included, began commenting Morgan's statement.

It matched the mysterious animal's description perfectly.

"And, once I realized how their appearances matched, I also noticed something else," Morgan proceeded. "Yarne is half human and half Taguel. In other words, fifty percent human and fifty percent Taguel."

More whispers and comments.

"If it's fifty percent Taguel, then it isn't fifty percent something unknown!" Seiji grumbled.

"That's the catch!" the white-haired girl affirmed. "Until the moment I realized all that, we never collected Taguel genetic material before, thus making it something that wouldn't be documented. In other words, if we detected it somewhere, it would appear in our results as UNKNOWN!"

The audience exploded in noise.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded.

"B-but that alone doesn't prove I was the creature seen in that night!" Yarne weakly retorted. "What if the genetic material belongs to other creature you haven't documented as well?"

Deep down, Yarne was sure Morgan had something to prove her point and that trying to defend himself against her statements would be nearly, if not outright, useless, but the words escaped his mouth before he even had any chance of thinking about it.

Was it nervousness? Was it because he was angry with himself? Maybe because he was scared? Or ashamed?

It was just a hunch, but a small part of his mind believed that instinctive reaction to defend himself was the same thing that made Lucina insist on her lie for so long, despite how bad things were getting for her.

In other words, a mix of everything.

"That's true, Yarne. The unknown material could indeed belong to anything. However!" Morgan turned to the boy and pointed a finger at him. "A test made with some genetic material extracted from you showed there is 100% compatibility between you and the mysterious animal seen that night!"

More noises and comments.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded.

"Uh?! E-extracted f-from me?!" the Taguel boy shuddered. "B-but how did you get t-that?!"

"There are LOTS of ways to collect genetic material from someone, my little long-eared friend!" Morgan put both hands on her back and smiled mischievously. "It can be from hair, teeth, sweat, tears, nails or even… saliva."

Yarne's eyes widened in shock as he understood how Morgan got his DNA.

"I KNEW THAT CAKE WAS A RUSE FOR SOMETHING! I HAD THAT FEELING!"

"And you fell for it anyways! Ha! Ha!" the white-haired girl laughed.

"Saliva?" the judge looked confused at Morgan. "What do you mean?"

Morgan giggled a bit more before turning to the elderly man and told him:

"Long story short, Your Honor, I managed to collect some saliva from the witness and proceeded to make a DNA test with it," the girl rummaged inside her coat and took two pieces of paper from it. "A bit before the trial started, my men came here and gave me a copy of the results for both DNA tests, one for the fur they found and one for Yarne's saliva."

The girl handed the documents to the judge, who grabbed them, adjusted his glasses and began reading.

"As you can see, the two results show the genetic material extracted from the fur and Yarne match perfectly!"

The judge analyzed the papers for a few moments before putting them down, nodding and saying aloud:

"Indeed. Both results state the material extracted is identical."

The audience began to whisper about the revelation.

"Yarne?" Panne looked confused and a bit shocked at her son sitting on the witness seat, both of his ears down and some sweat running down his face.

"Ooooh… That's something I never expected!" Nowi commented aloud to no one in specific. "What could Yarne be hiding?"

Nowi was so concentrated on her own curiosity she didn't notice when Nah crossed her arms and pouted with a clearly irritated face.

"So, what do you have to say about this, bunny?" Morgan asked Yarne with a challenging (and slightly sadistic) smile.

The boy felt his whole body stiffening and his eyes darted everywhere. No matter to which direction he looked, there was always someone giving him a weird look.

Sometimes it was of suspicion, sometimes of curiosity, sometimes of confusion… It didn't matter which was the reason people were looking weird at him, they still were and all those eyes locked on him made Yarne feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"I'm waiting for my answeeeeer…" the princess's attorney playfully hummed.

Noticing there was no escape and knowing Morgan would force him to confess sooner or later, Yarne facepalmed, sighed loudly, leaned on the chair and said:

"Alright, I admit: I was in the place where the animal was seen that night and did use my Beaststone, so the creature is very likely me."

The audience began to loudly comment about the revelation.

"Order! I demand order!" the judge beat his hammer.

"Which also means another thing," Morgan turned to the audience. "There was a trail of paw marks in the place where the animal was seen going straight to Ever Woods, which means the creature probably went there. And if I'm not mistaken…" the girl rubbed her chin playfully, making a thoughtful pose. "Both Lucina and Henry heard something akin to an animal while inside Ever Woods, didn't they?"

Comments and whispers.

"Oh! So, it was Yarne all along!" Henry commented. "Man, that night surely was crazy! Sumia, Lucina, Yarne and I were so close to each other and didn't notice it until now! Even when we don't want or expect, we're still together like the big, military family we are! Nya ha ha!"

"Military family?" Ricken asked turning to the Sorcerer.

"We're like a family, but we're still an army," Morgan explained.

"Yeah! A big family specialized in killing!" Henry happily said.

"Stop saying nonsense, you dunderhead," Tharja grumbled. "Sometimes I wonder why I married you and not Robin…"

"Maybe 'cause he wasn't interested on you?" Donnel, who was sitting in front of the Sorceress, said in (stupid) innocence.

"Just because we're in public, instead of doing something I will be nice and advise you to watch your back on the way home…" Tharja threatened as her face darkened.

"Uh… 'Kay, then…" the young boy awkwardly returned to his original position and fidgeted nervously.

"Alright… That was… Interesting. I think…" Morgan scratched the back of her head. "Back to the subject, considering everything I discovered and our friend's confession, I think it's safe to assume…"

The girl turned to look at Yarne again.

"That he was in Ever Woods when Lucina was also there, automatically making him a witness."

More comments and whispers.

"Mr. Yarne, what do you have to say about that?" the judge asked the Taguel boy with a serious tone.

Truth be said, the only thing Yarne really wanted to say was 'fuck', but that wouldn't help him in any possible way nor explain anything, so the boy took a deep breath and decided to spill the beans.

"Morgan is right. I was in Ever Woods in the night of the crime and, although I didn't see nor hear Lucina there, I'm totally sure it was just a bit before the crime happened."

People began commenting the revelation.

"And why are you so sure of that?" Seiji asked.

"Because I didn't find any sign of Lucina, but the same can't be said about Henry," Yarne explained running a hand on his hair. "I didn't see him, but I heard him falling on the trees and the jam pots breaking behind me."

"But if you knew it was father, then why didn't you help him?!" Noire suddenly got up and shouted from the back of the room.

"Miss, only the prosecutor and the attorney may make the questioning," the judge scolded.

"Uh… Sorry…" the young Archer sat back with her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Calm down, Noire," Morgan said. "There's no need to start a fight or something like that here."

…

"But she's right! Why didn't you help Henry, you freaking dingus?!"

"I w-would have helped if I knew it was him!" Yarne weakly tried to defend himself. "It was so dark and I got so scared at all the sudden noise I didn't have time to notice it was him!"

"Wait just a second…" Seiji suddenly interrupted the witness. "You just said it was too dark to notice it was Henry, but you affirm to have heard **him** a bit before that. Doesn't it sound a bit conflicting to you?"

Whispers and suspicious stares.

"That also raises another question," Morgan crossed her arms and gave Yarne a glare. "If you knew it was Henry, then you knew Lucina was nearby. In other words, you could have presented yourself as a witness to defend her case," the girl dangerously approached her face to the boy's. "Why didn't you do so?"

Yarne looked away with slightly flushed cheeks.

"What's the matter, bunny? The cat got your tongue?" a wicked smile appeared in Morgan's face. "Did I touch a sensitive subject?"

"Y-your face is too close…" Yarne weakly muttered still avoiding eye contact.

"Uh?" the white-haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"Your face is too close!" the Taguel muttered a bit louder and angrier.

Usually, Morgan wouldn't pay attention to that kind of complaint or even use it to her advantage (aka mess with him), but the situation and the place weren't the most ideal and she decided to take a step back.

"Better now?" the Grandmaster's daughter asked with an annoyed expression.

"A bit…" Yarne said a bit relieved.

"Good to know. Now, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS."

"I-is pressuring the witness like that authorized?!" the boy weakly complained.

"YES, IT IS."

"But like you want to open my belly and rip my guts out?!"

"In that case, no, just like it isn't authorized to use Goetia tomes on them, but I'm getting EXTREMELY tempted to do it right now!" Morgan threatened with a twitching eye and the Shadowgift glowing menacingly once again.

"Ms. Morgan! Stop with that unacceptable attitude immediately!" the judge scolded.

"Y-your heard the judge! Stop t-that!" the boy pointed to the elderly man.

"Maybe I'll stop this if you ANSWER THE QUESTIONS MADE," Morgan once again put her face dangerously close of Yarne's and glared deep in his eyes. "How did you know it was Henry if it was too dark to see him? Why didn't you present yourself as a witness for Lucina's case? And a question that hasn't been made yet, but may be the most important of all: why were you in Ever Woods during the night of the crime?"

"I… I… Ah…" the young Taguel's forehead looked like a cascade of sweat. "There was… the thing… and I…"

"You what?"

"I… I…"

"What are you trying to hide?" Morgan asked coldly.

"H-hide?! I'm not trying to hide anything!" Yarne argued.

"Are you sure? Because it looks like you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"You know what? Maybe you're right."

"Yes! Of course I am!"

…

"Huh? Did you just…" Yarne raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Agree with me?"

"Yes, I agreed with you," Morgan confirmed, her face relaxing a bit.

"Oh, good!"

…

"Uh, and the reason is…?"

"Simple," the white-haired girl turned to the audience. "You aren't trying to hide anything. You're trying to hide SOMEONE."

The court room exploded in noise.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded many times.

"S-s-s-s-someone?! W-what a-are t-talking a-a-about?!" Yarne stuttered madly.

"I'm talking about…" Morgan smiled mischievously at the boy. "Nah."

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Yarne shouted as the shock made him lose balance and fall from the seat straight to the cold floor under him.

Another mess of voices started and it was noticeably louder from the side of the audience composed by Shepherds

"Order! Order! I demand order!" the judge beat his hammer severely.

"Nah?" both Nowi and Vaike turned to look confused at the young Manakete, who turned her pouting face away from them.

Yarne's blood froze so quickly and intensely from the shock he couldn't even notice how cold the floor of the court room was.

He already knew Morgan discovered he was the animal seem running to Ever Woods and the creature Lucina and Henry commented in their testimonies, but how on Earth she discovered about Nah?

And if she knew about Nah, did it mean she also knew what happened between them?!

If she did, then things would make an even sharper turn for the worse.

Not only because of how embarrassing (and somewhat humiliating) the whole thing was, but also because, in the worst scenario possible, it could completely ruin his chances of, maybe, one day, if luck was on his side, be able to…

"Now, bunny, why don't you sit again and tell us exactly what happened?" Morgan invited with a wicked smile, interrupting the boy's thought process.

"W-what are talking about?!" Yarne mumbled while pathetically trying to return to the witness seat and recover composure.

"Tell us what happened between you and Nah that night," she playfully blinked an eye at him.

Yarne nearly fell of the seat again.

"W-what kind of nonsense are you implying?!" he shouted in mix of irritation and awkwardness, his cheeks turning a light red.

"Between Nah and him?" Vaike raised an eyebrow. "What is Morgan talking…"

If you ask basically anyone in the army, there's a 90% chance whoever you question will say Vaike isn't exactly the sharpest guy you can find. Some of them would even go to the extreme of calling him an outright idiot, although not all of them would do it publicly.

However, if there's one skill that practically every man develops once he becomes a (decent) father is the unique ability to notice when there's any kind of fishy thing happening with their daughters. If it's also related to boys, the skill becomes 200% more efficient than normal in most occasions.

Of course, there are some guys who don't have that skill so developed as others and some whose ability is over nine thousand (Robin is a good example), but that's off the point…

The thing is, thanks to that skill, even the 'blockhead' Vaike could put the pieces together and reach to a conclusion.

And a conclusion he totally DIDN'T like.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER, YOU LITTLE BASTARD?!" Vaike shouted furiously from his seat and glaring menacingly at Yarne.

"I didn't do anything!" the Taguel boy instinctively raised both arms and yelled desperate.

"THAT REACTION CLEARLY TELLS ME YOU DID!" the man shot back.

"I SWEAR I DIDN'T!" Yarne cried.

"Wait… so Nah is all grumpy because…" Nowi turned to look at her daughter, who still had her arms crossed and a pout in her face.

The entire court room exploded in another mess of voices.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Vaike shouted threateningly.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! I SWEAR!" Yarne shouted desperately.

"IF YOU DON'T SAY IT, I'LL SQUEEZE THE ANSWER OUT OF YOU!"

"BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHIIIIIIING!"

"You monster!" Nowi suddenly shouted. "You can't simply do something to Nah and run away! If you touched, you have to marry!"

"THAT ISN'T MAKING THINGS ANY BETTER!" Vaike screamed to the little Manakete.

"Are you telling me that was also caused because of some childish crush?" Seiji grumbled facepalming. "What is this? A crappy fanfiction?!"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?!" Yarne yelled as tears of nervousness escaped from his eyes.

"Maybe I should reevaluate that whole thing of allowing relationships in the army…" Chrom commented to no one in specific.

"BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"Apparently, it seems like you were…" Morgan smiled mischievously. "ShipPING AS usual, I see!"

"NO! IT ISN'T LIKE THAT!"

"Ah, great… That thing again…" Gangrel facepalmed.

"Which… thing?" Emmeryn asked innocently.

"Don't worry, Emmeryn. It's something you DEFINITELY don't need to know," the former Mad King grumply dismissed, leaving the woman quite confused.

How Gangrel knew about that kind of thing?

Well, let's say he spent much more time than he wanted with Robin and eventually discovered he could be a huge well of useless, scarring information.

And, much to his dismay, his pest of daughter inherited that 'perk'.

"Hold on… So, Yarne… and Nah… were… in the…" Brady tried to process the information, apparently reaching to a dirty conclusion as his cheeks turned a light red.

"HEY! WHAT IS WITH THAT FACE?! IT ISN'T WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!" Yarne yelled slightly irritated.

"So… disgusting…" Noire weakly muttered.

"WHY ARE YOU INSISTING SO MUCH ON THAT STORY?!" the Taguel boy shouted.

"Yarne, you owe me some explanations," Panne scolded with a severe face.

"YOU TOO, MOM?!"

"Ravioli, ravioli… Don't lewd the dragon loli!"

The whole court room fell in awkward silence as everyone turned to look at the person who pronounced those words.

"Say what?" Morgan asked while looking at Henry with intrigued eyes.

"I once borrowed your father's computer to search for dragon costumes and ended finding a forum with it as the subject," the Sorcerer casually told. "I thought the situation was ideal to say it."

"And why were you searching for dragon costumes?" the white-haired girl asked.

"There were auditions for a theater play at the time and they had a role for Grima!"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense…"

With that said, Morgan cleared her throat and turned to Yarne.

"Now, where were we again?" she poked a finger on her chin. "Oh, yes… You and Nah in the forest…"

"I already said it and I'll say it again: I didn't do anything to her!" Yarne said nervously.

"Yes, I believe you."

"SEE?! SEE?! Morgan believes me and she's the one who put me in this mess!" the boy pointed a finger at the girl and yelled indignant at the audience. "If even she can believe me, then why…"

…

"Wh- Wha- WHAT?!" Yarne was caught off guard just as much as the rest of the people in the court room.

"I believe you, Yarne. I really do," Morgan said calmly.

"But then…?! Why…?! Why did you put…"

"You in this mess?" the girl laughed eerily. "Do I really need to answer?"

The Taguel boy facepalmed. It was for lying to her. Why else?

"What are you talking about?" Seiji questioned confused. "What all this mess has to do with the case?"

"I would love to steal the scene and be the one to throw some light on your confused mind, my good colleague, but I think the story would sound much better if…" Morgan gave a not so light tap on Yarne's shoulder. "Told by the voice of our dear friend here."

"Uh?! W-what do you mean?" Yarne stuttered.

"I mean it's confession time!" the girl happily announced.

"C-confession? Do you mean…"

"Telling everyone exactly what happened and how? Yes, that's it."

The young Taguel gulped loudly and looked down nervous.

"I don't want to sound forceful or anything, but you don't have much choice," Morgan mockingly muttered to him.

"How is that supposed not to sound forceful?!" Yarne muttered back, his tone a mix of irritation and nervousness.

"I said I didn't want it to sound forceful, not that it wasn't supposed to sound forceful," the girl mischievously giggled. "Anyways, the truth is still the same."

"W-which truth?" the boy weakly asked.

"That you have no other option," Morgan pointed out. "Everyone here already knows you were in Ever Woods in the night of the crime and that you're hiding something, so what's the point of delaying the inevitable? The sooner you tell the truth, the sooner this whole situation will be solved!"

Yarne highly doubted what happened in that night and all the implications it had would be solved so soon but was forced to admit that Morgan was right about he having no other option.

Lying would surely be a horrible idea; he was too nervous to do it without delating himself and the many suspicious glares he was receiving from the audience were a clear sign that doing so would cause him a lot of trouble. Even worse, trouble potentially harmful in both the emotional and physical senses (considering his situation, the former would probably be provided by Morgan and the latter by Vaike).

So, as much as he didn't want to do it, Yarne took a deep breath, gathered all the courage he could and decided to spill the beans.

"A-alright… If you want a confession, then…" his voice faltered for a moment. "Then a confession I'll give you."

" _And that's why mother's methods are better sometimes!"_ the white-haired girl playfully thought. _"Two confessions in one single day! Being a bit malicious paid off!"_

"Do you remember what I told you that other day?" Yarne asked Morgan.

"If you're asking about your version of what happened that night, then yes, I do," the girl crossed her arms and gave him a hard stare. "Which means you better not try to insist on that story, because I know it's a lie."

"I know it. That's why I won't insist," the boy weakly said. "I just brought it up to start my testimony."

"May I ask why?" Morgan inquired.

"Because the first part of it is true," Yarne told. "I was training, Nah approached me, she called me to go to the festival with her… Up to that point, it's all the truth."

"SO YOU TWO WERE TOGETHER THAT NIGHT!" Vaike suddenly screamed and got up from his seat, all the nerves of his forehead bulging.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING! I SWEAR!"

"Order in the court!" the judge severely shouted while beating his hammer. "Sir, control yourself or I'll be forced to order the guards to take you out!"

Vaike begrudgingly sat, mumbling a few complaints and words inappropriate for younger publics.

"Before Vaike's interruption, you mentioned that everything up to that point was true, am I correct?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I said," the Taguel boy confirmed.

"Which also means that everything else from that point on is a lie, right?" the girl inquired putting both hands on her hips and giving Yarne a glare.

The boy's only response was to look down at the floor in front of him and blush a bit.

"Just as I thought," the princess's attorney shook her head disapproving. "Did you really think I wouldn't discover it sooner or later? Even more, why did you do that? You knew it was Henry in Ever Woods! If you didn't lie to me, I could have used your testimony as more evidence to prove that Lucina isn't lying!"

"I know… I… I really know it… But…" Yarne nervously scratched the back of his head.

"But…?" Morgan asked.

"First, I only discovered it was Henry AFTER he gave his testimony. Before that, I wasn't sure."

Whispers and comments everywhere.

"That doesn't explain nor justifies why you decided to remain quiet," Morgan deadpanned.

"And that's where the second thing comes," Yarne told. "I had a reason to keep what happened a secret."

"Let me guess, it's what happened after Nah invited you to the festival," Seiji suddenly affirmed.

"Y-yes… It is," Yarne confirmed.

"And what happened after Nah invited you is the reason why she's upset with you," Morgan guessed.

"Y-yes… It… It definitely is…"

"I swear to the gods, if that little piece of furry shit did something to Nah, I will…" Vaike lowly grumbled to himself.

"B-but it isn't what you're thinking it is!" Yarne tried to defend himself.

"Then, instead of just repeating it all the time, why don't you prove it to us?" Morgan invited with a wicked smile.

"I… I want! I really want! But…" the boy hesitated. "If I tell… I don't know what will happen…"

"To you?" Seiji inquired.

"No, not to me," Yarne gave the boy a sad look. "I don't know what will happen to… To Nah."

Of all the people caught off guard by Yarne's statement, Morgan and Nah were the most surprised of all.

"To Nah?" Morgan asked raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean with that?"

"I k-know it may sound ridiculous, especially a-after what just happened in this trial, but I know you'll understand…" Yarne weakly said. "And I'm sure Lucina will too."

" _Lucina?"_ Morgan tilted her head confused.

"Me?" the princess pointed a finger to herself.

"Y-yes! I know you will!" the boy affirmed with a hesitant voice. "B-because it's for the same reason you lied in court!"

"The same reason? Do you mean…" Morgan gave the boy a weird stare. "This whole time, you lied to protect…"

"Nah's reputation," Yarne finished for her.

People began commenting the statement.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded.

" _P-protect my reputation?!"_ Nah felt her left eye twitching. _"MY reputation?! MINE?!"_

"W-what…?" Vaike asked confused to no one in specific.

"Her reputation?" Seiji asked completely unable to understand what the witness said. "If you said 'YOUR' reputation, then I would comprehend what you're saying, but what do you mean with 'HER' reputation?"

"L-listen… What happened in that night… I don't…" Yarne's voice faltered. "I don't know what happened that night! She wasn't… Nah simply wasn't being herself!"

" _I wasn't being myself?!"_ the Manakete girl angrily thought.

"She wasn't being herserlf?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! She was acting all weird and unnaturally!" the boy answered. "She was doing weird things and saying creepy stuff and… and… Being immoral!"

" _Immoral?! I'm the one who was immoral?!"_ Nah's left eye began twitching.

"Immoral?" Morgan scratched her head.

"Uh… I chose my words poorly…" Yarne scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I didn't mean immoral. I think the correct would be… villainous?"

" _Villainous?!"_ Nah gritted her teeth.

"No! That's even worse and not true at all!" Yarne shook his head. "The correct is… Inappropriate?"

" _Inappropriate?!"_

"Incorrect?"

" _Incorrect?!"_

"A bit… unacceptable?"

" _ **UNACCEPTABLE?!**_ _"_

"Ah... Being sincere, I'm not sure what's the right word to use," Yarne smiled awkwardly. "But she was acting strange! Really strange! So strange I thought…"

"Uh, Yarne?" Morgan suddenly interrupted.

"Huh? What?" the boy looked to the princess's attorney.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you, but I highly recommend you choose your next words carefully."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because you kinda forgot," Morgan motioned her head in the direction of the audience. "that a certain someone is here hearing everything."

Yarne's face went pale as he noticed the huge mistake he made.

It became even whiter as he fearfully glanced at the audience and saw a small figure with a dark, furious expression full of killing intent glaring at him.

"H-hey…" Yarne awkwardly smiled, large drops of sweat dropping from his face. "I know how it sounded, but that's not what I meant, okay? I just… You know…"

"There's no need to explain, Yarne. I know what you're trying to do," Nah said with a surprisingly calm tone.

"Uh? Do you?" the boy asked a bit surprised.

Nah nodded.

"Yes, I do. You're trying to ESCAPE UNSCATHED OF THAT SITUATION BY BLAMING ME FOR EVERYTHING!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" Yarne's jaw dropped so much it risked touching the floor.

The whole court room exploded in noise.

"Order! Order!" the judge began beating his hammer.

"Huh?! What do you mean with that?!" Vaike looked horrified at his daughter, then glared furious at the witness. "WHAT IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?!"

"I don't know! I really don't!" Yarne said in a mix of surprise, incredulity and confusion. "Nah, what do you mean? I would never do that to you! You're my friend!"

"HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ME IF YOU JUST DID?!" the young Manakete girl got up from her chair and shouted with the fury of a dragon.

Well, she IS a dragon, after all…

"I… did?" the boy asked genuinely unsure of what his friend meant.

"OF COURSE YOU DID!" Nah yelled. "HOW CAN YOU SAY I'M IMMORAL, INCORRECT, INAPPROPRIATE AND UNACCEPTABLE…"

"You forgot villainous," Morgan pointed out.

"SHUT UP!" Nah shouted at the girl.

"Hey, I was just trying to help!" the attorney pouted.

"WHEN IT WAS YOU WHO RAN AWAY AND LEFT ME ALONE IN THAT FIELD?!"

The whole court room fell in silence.

"What?" Lucina and Morgan asked in unaware unison.

"Why did you do that?! WHY?!" Nah shouted as tears began falling from her eyes. "You didn't give me an answer, an explanation, nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"N-Nah…" Yarne weakly muttered.

"You just left me alone in the darkness of night and completely heartbroken!"

Vaike nearly fell from his chair. If he knew what a missile was, he would surely compare what he felt to being hit by one.

"Why?! Why did you do that?!" Nah began sobbing uncontrollably. "I like you so much! Why did you do that?! What did I do to deserve that?!"

Yarne felt his whole body trembling in a weird mess of emotions blended together. He was so used to see Nah acting strong and mature (emphasis on ACTING) he never imagined what happened that night could hurt her so badly.

If he knew, he would never have done what he did.

"N-Nah…" Yarne stuttered.

"Listen, I don't want to sound heartless or anything of the kind, but that conversation didn't clarify much," Morgan carefully intervened. "To say the truth, it raised even more questions than we already had, so… can someone please throw some light on the matter and tell us what is going on?"

Saying such a thing in that moment really sounded insensitive, but as much as seeing her friends like that hurt her, Morgan knew it wasn't the place nor the time to be sympathetic. They were in the middle of the trial and her main duty was to be Lucina's attorney.

It didn't matter how heart wrenching things could become, defending Lucina was the most important thing she had to do and if the only way to do that was extracting painful information from the witnesses, then what else she could do?

It didn't mean she liked to do that by any means.

…

Okay, there was a tiny part of her that wanted things to happen how they happened just for the sweet sake of getting revenge for being lied to, but seeing Yarne, Lucina or, to a certain extent, Nah suffering like that still pained her, no matter what her sadistic side said.

"V-very well," Yarne said nervously (and slightly guilty) as the sound of Nah sobbing echoed in the court room. "I'll tell… everything. Absolutely everything. Not a word less or more."

The Taguel boy's sudden statement made all eyes turn to him.

"Well, if you will, then…" Seiji crossed his arms and leaned on his chair. "Please start."

 **Witness Testimony**

"Like I already said, until the moment Nah invited me to the festival, everything I told was the purest truth."

"And what happened after that?" Morgan asked serious.

"Well…"

Yarne looked down, feeling some of the courage he gathered disappearing.

"Come on… Don't chicken now!" Morgan complained.

"Ms. Morgan…" the judge called out.

"I'm sorry," the girl bowed apologetically.

After taking a deep breath, Yarne proceeded with the narrative.

"Unlike I told Morgan before, Nah called me to go to the festival with her, but not near the village and not only me. She said the others would go too."

"The others?" Seiji raised an eyebrow. "Who are the 'others'?"

"Morgan, Lucina, Cynthia, Gerome, Brady… Basically, all our friends."

"Wait, everyone?" Morgan asked. "But nobody knew you planned to do that. Some of us even had things to do that night. I, for one, was preparing to assume father's responsibilities."

In other words, procrastinating her job with videogames and her mother's books of curses.

"And I had to study for my Latin test. Which I still don't even get why I've gotta learn… Ouch!" Brady yapped as his mother pinched his arm.

"And I stayed until very late with Laurent in the castle's library," Noire told.

"Doing what?" Tharja asked with her usual cold tone.

"R-reading books! W-what else?!" the young Archer answered a bit shocked at the question.

"In other words, there would be no one aside from you two there," Brady concluded while rubbing the place he was pinched.

"I figured that out later," Yarne scratched the back of his head. "Nonetheless, Nah told me the meeting point would be the fallen tree in Luna Road, more or less around eight."

" _The place where Maggot, Tick and Flea found the paw marks…"_ Morgan thought.

"I didn't want to leave anyone waiting, so I left early, around seven forty-five. I'm not sure of when I arrived, but it takes some time to go to Luna Road, so it was probably around eight or close to it."

Yarne made a brief pause and took a deep breath. The next part was the delicate one.

"When I arrived, the only person there was Nah, but she wasn't… You know… Looking like herself."

"No, I don't know, Yarne. What do you mean with 'wasn't looking like herself'?" Morgan questioned.

"I mean she wasn't… How can I say it?" the boy rubbed his cheek awkwardly. "She was wearing a weird attire."

"A weird attire?"

"Yes, it looked a bit like her mother's clothes, but…" Yarne's cheeks blushed a bit. "R-red."

Nowi suppressed a giggle and Vaike's heart nearly stopped.

"It was crimson!" Nah complained.

"Is it a different color?" Sully whispered to Stahl, who answered raising his shoulders.

"Oooh… I see what you mean," Morgan mischievously smiled. "We'll need more details, though, so if you please…"

Yarne let out a very long and loud sigh. He had a feeling that Morgan would be the first one to show interest in the testimony once he reached that part.

"Come on! Don't stop now! Give me the juicy… I mean, the important details!" the girl ordered a bit more excited than she should be.

"A-alright! Alright! I'll tell! No need to be so forceful!" Yarne weakly complained.

"I don't think I want to know anymore…" Vaike lowly lamented, his stomach turning into a knot.

"A-at first, I was caught off guard by that and even felt a bit awkward at how… well, unfitting it was for her."

Nah crossed her arms, puffed her cheeks irritated and turned her face away.

"D-despite that, I somehow managed to get over that feeling and act as normally as possible. I mean, it really looked unfitting for her and I had no idea of why on Earth Nah would dress something so… revealing, but I never had any reason to doubt anything she did, so why would I suddenly jump to conclusions without even knowing what motivated her to do so? She surely had a good reason for that. Or at least that was what I believed…" the last part was muttered in a volume that nobody except for Yarne himself would hear.

"Revealing? Are you indirectly implying something to me?" Nowi asked a bit offended.

"No! That's not what I meant at all! I swear!" the witness desperately tried to avoid starting another mess. "I mean, it IS a bit revealing, but I'm not criticizing you or anything!"

"So you don't mind if mother wears it, but cares if I do?!" Nah suddenly shouted.

The entire court room began whispering and glancing suspiciously at Yarne.

"DEAR GODS! NO! NO! NO! WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" the boy's forehead became drenched of sweat. "I didn't say that…!"

"Yarne, focus. F.O.C.U.S. FOCUS," Morgan alerted. "Ignore the others. The most important thing you must do now is give us your testimony. You can explain yourself later."

"You just want me to keep giving you the details, don't you?"

"I have no idea of what you're talking aboooooout," Morgan's tone was enough to delate her.

"I suspected as much," Yarne sighed. "In any case, you're right. Better continue with my testimony."

The Taguel boy cleared his throat, filled himself with as much courage he could and resumed from where he stopped.

"Trying to avert my mind from… Uh… Nah's choice of clothing, I looked for anything to start a conversation and noticed we were the only ones there. I asked her about the others and she told me they hadn't arrived yet, so we should wait a bit more for them," Yarne scratched the back of his head and took a better position on the chair. "Aside from Nah's clothes, there was nothing else too out of ordinary and the night was very calm, so I ended becoming a bit too relaxed and didn't notice the discrepancy in what she told me."

"And that discrepancy would be...?" Seiji asked.

"Like Morgan and the others said before, that it was impossible for everyone to meet there that night," Yarne told. "I didn't know Morgan was Robin's official representative, but I knew she would take most of his duties while he was out and needed time to prepare for it, so it was very unlikely that she would come. I also knew Noire and Laurent would be busy that night and couldn't attend."

"You knew all that and didn't notice the plot hole in what Nah said neither when she invited you earlier that day nor after you two met and she talked about it again?" the prosecutor raised an eyebrow.

"Hehehe…." Yarne giggled slightly embarrassed.

Seiji facepalmed and shook his head.

"A-as we waited for the others without anything happening, my mind became more and more relaxed until any worry the initial surprise of seeing Nah dressed like that disappeared. After all, Nowi is always dressing those clothes and nobody seems to worry or be bothered by that, so why should I be about Nah using them? The uneasiness was probably just because I'm not used to see her dressed that way," the furry witness then rubbed his cheek sheepishly. "B-but just as I stopped worrying, IT happened."

"And what do you mean with 'it', huh?" Morgan grinned mischievously.

"H-how can I put it into words?" Yarne scratched his head, his cheeks turning a light pink. "She… began acting weird. Like… saying and… doing things completely unexpected of her."

"That was a veeeeery vague description. We need more details," Morgan's grin became bigger.

"Uh… W-well… S-she did… Ah… Some weird stuff like… saying…"

"Saying…?"

"T-that I… looked…" Yarne's voice trembled with nervousness.

"Huh?! Huh?!" Morgan was clearly having more fun with that situation than her role as Lucina's attorney allowed.

"Like… That my…"

The whole court room was silent as a tombstone. It was very clear that everyone became way too much interested in the story.

That is, everyone except for Vaike, who was averting his gaze, trying very hard to ignore what Yarne was saying and resist the urge to vomit.

"Your what?!" Morgan practically demanded Yarne to continue.

"My… M-my…"

Yarne grabbed both his ears and pulled them, growling in a mix of slight pain and nervousness.

"I c-can't do it! It's too much!"

Disappointed growls echoed through the whole court room.

"What are you talking about?! You can't simply leave it that way!" the white-haired attorney of the princess pointed an accusing finger at the witness.

"I'm sorry, but I simply can't continue this!" Yarne shouted feeling his cheeks burning. "What I already told is more than enough to create a horrible image of Nah and what comes next is simply too embarrassing to reveal!"

"NO! I NEED THE DETAILS! TELL ME NOW!" Morgan's eyes went bloodshot as she slammed the defense table, scaring both Lucina and Cynthia.

"Ms. Morgan, control yourself!" the judge scolded, although the girl apparently didn't notice it.

"It really worries me to know that's the kind of person ruling this country…" Seiji commented facepalming and feeling some drops of sweat running down the back of his head.

"Hey! I'm the one who rules this country and I'm definitely NOT like that!" Chrom shot at the prosecutor with a clearly offended tone.

"L-listen, I know we must give all the information possible to the court, but I simply can't say what happened in that moment!" Yarne shook his head desperately. "All I can say is that the things she said and did scared the shit out of me! It was so unnatural of her it looked like she was a totally different person! And an absurdly creepy one, on top of that!"

"CREEPY?!" Nah shouted irritated.

"THAT ISN'T ENOUGH! GIVE ME THE DETAILS! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT SHE DID!" Morgan slammed the table more times, creating a few creaks on it.

"Ms. Morgan!" the judge severely scolded again.

"I can't and I won't, okay?!" Yarne firmly insisted. "Continuing…"

"NO!" the white-haired girl complained.

"CONTINUING…" the boy repeated with a clearly irritated voice. "Nah's behavior was so abnormal for her, so… I don't know… weird, forceful, aggressive and… somewhat violent."

The curiosity of the entire court room grew even bigger.

"It really freaked me out. In fact, it scared me so much I couldn't resist my instincts and ran away as fast as my legs allowed me. Gods, I was so scared I even resorted to my Beaststone!"

"What do you mean?" Seiji asked.

"In this form, I can run relatively fast, but transformed I can run much faster," Yarne explained. "My Beaststone is nearly running out of uses and before going on vacations Robin told me all the stocks in Ylisstol and the nearby villages are very low, so I shouldn't use it unnecessarily, but that's just how much I was scared. Unfortunately, it didn't work as well as I expected."

"And why?" the prosecutor asked again, since Morgan seemed too busy chewing her nails out of frustration to do so.

"Because I forgot Nah also had her Dragonstone," the Taguel told. "A bit after I started running away, I heard an angry growl coming from behind me. I looked back to see what it was and saw Nah transformed chasing me. It really freaked me out and I started running faster."

Yarne sighed.

"I had the upper hand, but I was sure Nah would catch me in a matter of seconds. It's unimportant how fast I can run, she has the advantage of flying, which means she can reach the same speed as me using much less energy. In other words, sooner or later, I would get tired and be caught."

"But you were in Ever Woods in that same night," Seiji pointed out. "Does it mean you managed to escape?"

"Yes, I did. In fact, going to Ever Woods was my strategy to escape from her," Yarne told. "Her biggest advantage over me is her ability to fly and Ever Woods would counter it. The tree tops create a very dense mass of leaves, preventing her from seeing me from the sky; the branches would prevent aerial attacks, forcing her to land and I can easily hide among the vegetation."

"In other words, you forced her into the element you had an advantage," Seiji rubbed his chin. "That's quite clever, I must admit."

"Thank you… I guess," Yarne rubbed his cheek a bit embarrassed. "Like I was saying, Ever Woods was the best chance I had to escape from Nah and it wasn't very far from where we were, so I went straight to it, entered in the dense forest and hid the best I could, being as quiet as possible. Thanks to my hearing, I could detect her position and notice she really lost track of me. I couldn't let my guard down, though, so I remained in place. But…"

Morgan snapped out of her frustration and gave Yarne a curious look.

"But?" she asked.

"While I was there, I heard… Weird things," the boy told.

"Like what?" the girl inquired.

"First, I heard steps. I don't know who it was, but I'm sure it was a person not too far away."

" _Steps?"_ Morgan wondered.

"After that, I heard more steps, but not from a person."

"From what, then?" Seiji asked.

"By how loud they were, I think it was something heavy. My best bet is a wyvern, but I've never seen one big enough to make such loud sound and I know Nah is lighter than whatever it was, so I really don't know what it could be."

" _A wyvern? Didn't Maggot mention Severa and Inigo found a very big wyvern in Ever Woods?"_ Morgan rubbed her chin thoughtful.

"And even weirder is that not much after it happened I also heard more steps from a person, but I also smelled blood."

Both Seiji and Morgan raised their eyebrows.

"Blood?" the prosecutor inquired intrigued.

"Yes, blood," Yarne confirmed. "And by what I could hear, the person seemed to be injured."

"Injured?" Morgan tilted her head confused.

"For a moment, I forgot about Nah and thought about looking for the person in case they needed help, but when I was about to go after them I heard glass breaking, the branches above me creaking and falling and a maniacal laughter."

"That was me!" Henry happily pointed out.

"Yes, it was," Yarne confirmed, although not as happily as Henry. "But like I said, I didn't know it at the time and I supposed the worst."

"And the worst would be…?" Seiji inquired.

"Nah found me, it was a bandit trap, Grima's sudden return… I really didn't give it too much thought. I just imagined it could be a very bad thing and fled as fast as I could."

"And left the injured person to their own luck?" Morgan glared a bit indignant.

The whole court room began whispering.

"Of course I didn't leave them to their own luck. I may be a coward, but I would never leave anyone in need so cowardly," Yarne firmly affirmed. "I ran away, that's true, but I didn't leave Ever Woods. I ran to another place and waited for a few moments. Not long after I escaped, I heard what seemed to be claws cutting trees. Imagining it was Nah, I stayed quiet until what was attacking the trees left and went after the person."

Yarne scratched the back of his head.

"After a bit of search, I found some blood on a few leaves. Fearing it really meant someone hurt was wandering inside the forest at night, I smelled the blood I found to find that person's track. Usually, that would be a good plan as following someone by smell is much easier in the darkness of the night than using my sight, no matter how good it may be, but in that specific case it ended being a horrible idea."

"Why is that so?" Morgan asked.

"I couldn't feel it from far away, but there was something else on the leaves."

"Something else?" both the attorney and the prosecutor inquired confused.

"I have no idea of what it was, but it had a very acid smell that could be felt only if I was close to it," the Taguel told. "The smell was so acid and irritating it hurt and I'm not exaggerating, because it literally caused me physical pain. After that, my eyes began watering and my nose became completely useless; I could barely see five feet in front of me and became totally unable to smell anything."

Yarne sighed in a mix of disappointment and remorse.

"I didn't want to do it, but in the darkness of night and with both my eyes and nose out of commission, I had no way to find the person inside that treacherous forest, so I was forced to leave. I thought about looking again the following morning but woke up late and before I could do anything, mother told me what happened to Lucina and this whole mess started."

The Taguel boy looked at Morgan.

"That's all I have to tell. And I swear, this time, I'm not lying."

With Yarne's story finished, the girl put a hand on her head and scratched it with a confused look in her face.

On one hand, if he was telling only the truth, then not only she found another way to confirm the truthfulness of Lucina's testimony, but also new information for the case.

On other hand, if it all was true, then more questions and unexplained facts about Nikolai Loss's death surfaced.

 **Direct Examination**

"I'll start easy and ask about something you just told," Morgan said as she approached Yarne. "You said there was something on the leaves aside from the blood, right?"

"Yes, I did," Yarne confirmed.

"Are you sure it wasn't on something close to it?"

"Yes, I'm totally sure. I also think it wasn't natural."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

"I really have no idea of what it was, but if I had to guess, I would say it's something chemical."

"Chemical?" Seiji inquired.

"It's a very wild guess, but I don't think anything natural could have that kind of acid smell."

"And that was the first time you smelled something like that?" Morgan asked.

Yarne's only answer was a short nod.

"I see…" the attorney rubbed her chin thoughtful. "By the way, you mentioned that the acid smell could only be felt if you were very close to the blood, correct?"

Yarne nodded again.

"So, is it safe to say…" Morgan crossed her arms. "Whatever that substance was, it was mixed in the blood?"

The Taguel boy opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself as his face slowly turned into an intrigued frown and he locked eyes on the floor in front of him.

"Now that you mentioned…" he said with a perplexed voice, suddenly raising his face to look at the white-haired girl. "I think it was. The acid smell could only be felt if I was very close to the blood and I felt it in the exact moment I smelled the leaves."

Intrigued whispers and comments across the court room.

"HOLD IT!" Seiji suddenly spoke up. "You felt the smell of blood way sooner than that, didn't you?"

"Uh… Yes, I did. Why?" Yarne asked a bit apprehensive of what the prosecutor meant.

"If there was something mixed in the blood, then wouldn't you have felt it in the same moment you smelled the blood moments before?"

More comments and whispers.

"Yes. And… no," the young Taguel scratched his cheek sheepishly.

"Huh? What is that supposed to mean?" Seiji asked glaring.

Yarne scratched the back of his head and told:

"I can't say for sure because it really depends on the substance and how much of it was mixed in the blood. If the substance has a very strong smell or there was a high concentration in the blood, then I would surely have felt it. However, if the substance has a subtler smell or there is a low concentration, then the blood could have hidden it."

"Well, taking in consideration the substance made your eyes water and crippled your nose, I highly doubt it had a subtle scent or there was only a small concentration of it in the blood," the prosecutor pointed out.

"That also confused me," Yarne awkwardly said. "It doesn't make much sense. I mean, if it was strong enough to cripple me like that, then how could I possibly not have felt it before?"

"Hold on just a second…" Morgan suddenly spoke. "You found blood that could possibly have some unknown substance close to where the crime happened!"

"Yes?" Yarne half asked, half confirmed, worried of what Morgan was trying to say.

"Why didn't you tell me or any of the guards?! We could have collected the blood and sent to the Secret Service HQ to discover what was mixed in it!"

Many nods of agreement.

"I-it's true, I could have done that…" the boy awkwardly admitted.

"Then why didn't you?!" Morgan inquired a bit irritated.

"B-because when I went to that same place during the first day of the trial, the leaves had disappeared."

The whole court room began commenting the reveal.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded beating his hammer.

"The leaves disappeared?" both Morgan and Seiji asked in unison.

"I k-know it may sound ridiculous, but it really happened," Yarne affirmed as firmly as his nervous mind allowed. "During the first day of trial, a bit before we had to come here, I went to Ever Woods check the blood I found a second time, hoping that the acid scent had at least vanished enough for me to smell the leaves without nearly dying, but when I arrived at the place I found the blood, all the bloodied leaves had disappeared!"

"Now THAT sounds suspicious," Seiji got up from his chair and glared at Yarne. "What do you mean they disappeared? They couldn't have just gone 'poof' and went to only the gods know where!"

"I know it, and that's what made me really freaked out," the Taguel boy said with a trembling voice. "The rest of the plant was exactly like I remembered, but all the leaves and specifically only the leaves that had blood were gone!"

Whispers and comments echoed in the court room.

" _Specifically the ones with blood?"_ Morgan thought to herself with a frown.

Without evidence, there was no way to know exactly what happened and how, thus preventing her from bringing that theory up during the trial for the time being, but the agitated mind of the Grandmaster's daughter was totally sure it had to be sabotage.

If it wasn't, then what else could it be?

"And even creepier is the fact that there was no sign of anyone going there! I only found trails of animals!" Yarne said loudly.

"So, nothing out of ordinary," Seiji commented rubbing his chin.

"Yes, nothing out of ordinary!" the Taguel suddenly scratched his cheek with a finger. "I mean, except for one weird black feather that seemed to be super out of place there, but it was just from a regular crow, so…"

That seemingly random commentary made a certain person in the audience giggle a bit.

"This is the reason I didn't tell about the blood. Even if I showed you where it was, there would be no way to check it," Yarne sighed. "I must admit that it also had something to do with… you know… the Nah thing…"

A wide, mischievous smile appeared in Morgan's face as she saw an opportunity to inquire about what happened, but Seiji beat her and asked his question first.

"HOLD IT! Per your testimony, you heard two people in Ever Woods before Henry fell and scared you away, correct?"

"Yes, I heard," Yarne nodded.

Seeing that she lost her chance, Morgan crossed her arms, leaned on her chair and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Morgan, control yourself," Lucina lowly complained to her attorney.

"Lucina, go take care of your own life," Morgan grumbled.

Unaware of what was happening in the defense table, Seiji continued with his questioning.

"I was wondering…" the prosecutor left his table and approached the boy. "Could those two people be Lucina and Nikolai before the crime happened? The fact you heard them BEFORE Henry fell is a strong evidence it may be the case, anyways."

Many Shepherds stood up to argue while the other half of the audience began commenting about the statement.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded severely.

"Uh… Just by footsteps, I can't discover the identity of a person, unless they have a unique way of walking and I know it beforehand," Yarne told.

"But, considering all the evidence shown until now, there's no way to deny it *is* possible, correct?" Seiji crossed his arms.

"Well… I…" the Taguel boy fidgeted nervously. "I agree with that…"

Low comments across the room.

"H-however, it doesn't mean Lucina killed the merchant, even if they were the people I heard!" Yarne quickly said with a challenging (?) tone. "Morgan said the crime scene had clear signs of a fight and I didn't hear anything of the kind!"

"Didn't you run away when Henry fell?" Seiji inquired with an annoyed expression.

"Well… yes, but…"

"And didn't you run away from THAT place?"

"Y-yes…"

"So, it's logical you wouldn't hear the fight happening anyways, because you weren't nearby to hear it, correct?"

…

"Y-yes… that's true…" Yarne weakly admitted.

"HOLD IT!" Morgan suddenly spoke up. "If that's the case, then you didn't hear what made the marks in the trees?"

"N-no, I didn't… Uh, but is that important?" the boy asked confused.

Morgan didn't answer; she just rubbed her chin thoughtful with an intrigued expression in her face.

"M-Morgan, is it important?" Yarne asked again, believing the girl didn't hear him.

The white-haired girl didn't answer again; her mind was coming and going from one fact to another, trying to understand the connections and reach to a conclusion.

Who made the marks and when they were made could be the key to solving the mystery. Who or what was the 'third unidentified blade' could also be a key to solving the mystery. What was in the blood Yarne found could also be the key to solving the mystery. Who was the injured person walking in Ever Woods could also be the key to solving the mystery. The reason the bloodied leaves disappeared could also be the key to solving the mystery!

Heck, the way things were going, even what Morgan ate for breakfast could end becoming vital to the case!

" _I can't connect the dots!"_ the young Proxy mentally complained. _"The injured person was Nikolai? If it was, what was he doing there and why was he injured? And if it wasn't, then who could it be? The owner of the third blade? But if it's the case, then why did they leave marks in the trees? And what was in the blood? Why was it in the blood? How did it end there?_

The questions multiplied exponentially. Discovering more evidence should make solving the case easier, but the truth of Nikolai's murder seemed to be getting harder and harder to uncover.

" _Calm down, Morgan. Your head is in the wrong place,"_ the girl shook her head. _"Your job is to defend Lucina, not solve the murder case. The only thing you needed was Yarne's testimony and you got it. Now, there's no way to deny Lucina was in Ever Woods the time she was and all the other things she heard are true. That's all you need, so stop worrying."_

That's what she said to herself, but the questions continued coming in never ending waves. Among all of them, one stood out like a burning fireplace in the middle of the darkest night:

What on Earth could have happened in Ever Woods?

"Uh… If that's all you wanted me to say, can I return to my seat?" Yarne cautiously asked.

"Not yet, sir," the judge affirmed. "The prosecution has the right to make the cross-examination before you can return to your place."

"Oh, yes… Of course…" the boy lamented.

"However, before that," the elderly man looked to Morgan. "Does the defense have anything else to ask?"

Morgan thought for a moment before shaking her head and saying:

"No, the defense has nothing else to ask."

"Really?" the witness asked a bit surprised. "I was sure you would ask about the whole thing with Nah…"

"OOOOOOOOOOOH! Thank you very much for remembering me!" Morgan mischievously cooed.

"AH, FUCK ME!" Yarne facepalmed and mentally punched himself.

"That's a very weird thing to ask, but if you can come home after the trial…" the girl maliciously winked an eye at the boy.

"NYEH?!" the Taguel's whole face turned a deep red.

"WHAT?!" both Nah and Inigo asked indignant.

"Now, be a good boy and tell Morgan the details. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL OF THE DETAILS! IT'S CRUCIAL FOR THIS CASE!"

"The details of THAT specific thing surely aren't…" Seiji rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"NO! THEY ARE! SHUT UP!" Morgan yelled at the prosecutor.

"Ms. Morgan!" the judge scolded.

"I already s-said it more t-than once and I'll say it again: I CAN'T TELL!" Yarne shouted. "It's embarrassing in ways I can't describe, and I don't know what people will think of Nah!"

"I'm not taking Morgan's side on this matter, but, sincerely, the things you've said are probably enough to create a very bad image of her," Seiji commented.

"W-what do you mean?" Yarne asked with a trembling voice.

"You described what she did with many 'pleasant' adjectives and insists on keeping it a secret from everyone," the prosecutor returned to his chair and leaned on it. "The more you keep hiding it, the wilder becomes the audience's imagination. Worst case scenario, we may have reached the point what people are imagining is worse than what really happened."

"YES! EXACTLY WHAT SEIJI SAID! NOW, STOP BEING A DOUCHEBAG AND SPILL THE BEANS!" Morgan angrily slammed both hands on the already damaged table and created a huge creak that run from one side to another, making both Lucina and Cynthia jump in the process.

"MS. MORGAN!" the judge scolded severely.

Despite the elderly man's reaction, the rest of the audience (including some of the Shepherds), seemed to be getting just as anxious for an answer as Morgan.

"I a-already told I can't tell!" Yarne grabbed both ears and pulled them. "I-it's too much for me!"

"DON'T BE A SISSY! TELL IT ALREADY!" Morgan shouted, her eyes turning bloodshot.

"Just end this mess already and tell!" Seiji ended supporting his rival, full of all the shenanigans caused by the Taguel's secret.

"I CAN'T DO IT!" Yarne cried. "I DON'T HAVE THE GUTS!"

"Fine. Then I'll tell."

Silence filled the room as all eyes turned to a small girl that had a frown in her face and her arms crossed among the part of the audience formed of Shepherds.

"W-what?!" Vaike stuttered.

"I'll tell what happened," the young Manakete huffed. "If Yarne doesn't want to say, then I'll end this story once and for all."

"W-w-wait j-just a m-moment, Nah!" a mix of nervousness and awkwardness was clear in the witness's voice. "A-are you sure t-t-that's a good idea?!"

"Good idea! Bad idea! Horrible idea! Who cares what it is?!" the girl shouted irritated before turning her face away and sobbing a bit. "My heart is already in pieces… It doesn't matter to me anymore…"

"N-Nah…" Yarne weakly stuttered.

"DON'T LEAVE US WAITING, THEN!" Morgan clapped her hands and anxiously rubbed them as a wide, mischievous smile appeared in her face.

"W-wait just a second!" Vaike spoke up. "I-if it's potentially harmful for my daughter, then there's no way…"

"Shh! Don't interrupt Nah!" Nowi ordered puffing her cheeks.

"What in the…?!" the man's jaw dropped.

"HEY, VAIKE! SHUT UP!" the princess's attorney suddenly shouted. "NAH IS TRYING TO FIX THINGS, SO DON'T PREVENT HER FROM DOING WHAT'S RIGHT!"

"HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE THE RIGHT THING?!" Vaike shot back.

The heated discussion between the Grandmaster's daughter and the blonde man had little to no effect in the audience; all the eyes were locked on the young Manakete girl, waiting for the answer that suddenly interested everybody for more reasons than can be cited here.

All the attention made Nah feel a bit uncomfortable as her cheeks turned a light pink and she began fidgeting nervously in her chair, but she already promised to tell everything, so there was no turning back. Besides, just like she said before, it didn't really matter much to her what people would think of what she did; the only thing she wanted didn't happen and it was very clear that Yarne had no intention of changing his mind.

"V-very well…" Nah took a deep breath to fill herself with courage. "I'll tell everything now."

"N-Nah! T-think a bit better! I-it's p-probably a bad i-idea!" large drops of sweat began running down Yarne's face.

"No! I already made my mind! I'm not turning back now!" the girl shouted irritated. "What happened that night and Yarne refuses to reveal is that I…"

 _Content removed by the Ylissean System of censorship_

The court room exploded in noise and voices. The reactions varied from one extreme of the spectrum to the other, with some having a harder time to accept what they heard than others. However, there was one thing everybody agreed on:

It was extremely hard to believe a girl that looked so young would do such things.

"WAWAWAWAWAWAWAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!" Vaike's face contorted in horror and pain, wrinkles appearing on his forehead and tears falling from his eyes.

"OOOOOOOOH! MY DEAR GODS! NOW **THAT** IS SOMETHING ELSE!" Morgan smiled widely and giggled demonically. "IS IT JUST MY IMPRESSION OR THIS COURT ROOM SUDDENLY GOT WAAAAAY HOTTER THAN IT WAS?!"

Nah's only reaction was to pout, puff her blushing cheeks and stare at the floor.

"I… I… I can't even…" Vaike weakly tried to form a sentence, but a terrible urge to vomit forced him to leave it unfinished and run out of the court room to the nearest bathroom.

The combined voices of all the people talking at the same time reached an unbearable volume, but everybody seemed to busy commenting about the (admittedly shocking revelation) to notice that.

"ORDER! ORDER! ORDER! I DEMAND ORDER!" the judge beat his hammer many times, uselessly trying to make the audience quiet down.

"Ugh…" Yarne weakly mumbled, hiding his burning face with both hands. "I knew it was a bad idea…"

"Dear gods… No wonder he tried to escape…" Seiji facepalmed, cold sweat drenching his forehead and shivers running down his spine.

"That's some VEEEEERY kinky stuff, don't you think Nah?" Morgan's smile seemed to grow wider with each second. "Where did you learn that, naughty girl?!"

"Y-you should know the answer," the Manakete girl mumbled. "It was from you."

All the eyes suddenly turned to Morgan.

"UH?! IT ALL HAPPENED THANKS TO YOU?!" Yarne's jaw dropped.

"Huh? Me?" Morgan pointed a finger to herself. "When did I tell you any of that?"

"D-don't you remember? That Saturday, after our training session," Nah told.

"Saturday? Which Saturday?"

"T-the one when you invited Noire, Cynthia and me to your house."

"Ooooh… THAT Saturday."

…

"Wait, the only thing we did that Saturday was have lunch and play some games. We never talked about…"

Morgan's eyes went wide open as something clicked in her mind.

"Did you, by any chance, use my father's computer?"

"Y-yes, I did…" Nah admitted.

"What exactly did you search?" Morgan put both hands on her hips and stared suspiciously at her friend.

"I searched what you told me to do!"

"And what exactly did I tell you to do?"

Nah turned her face away and rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"I a-asked you how I could make a boy n-notice me and you said I had to be aggressive. Since I didn't know how to do it and I had a chance to use your father's computer…"

Morgan facepalmed.

"I don't know what you searched, but you surely searched the wrong thing."

"W-what do you mean?!" the Manakete asked.

"By aggressive, I meant 'direct', 'straightforward'. What you did is just… Well, sexual violence," Morgan scratched the back of her head. "At least, it explains the weird stuff that appeared in the browser history…"

"What did I do to deserve this?" Chrom covered his face with both hands and shook his head.

He wasn't the most troubled person in the trial, but no one could blame him for feeling bad. After all, those things were happening to people of HIS army, so every blow to the army's reputation was a blow to HIS reputation.

"O-okay! I may have searched for the wrong thing on the computer, but it doesn't excuse Yarne's actions!" Nah suddenly shouted.

"Uh?! What do you mean?!" the boy asked shocked.

"You left me alone! What kind of person does that?!"

"I would never leave you alone like that if there was any danger!" Yarne said defensively.

"I'm not talking only about that night! I'm talking about every time you ran away whenever Itried to confess to you!"

All eyes turned once again to Yarne, making the boy feel extremely uncomfortable.

"There was a time when you would avoid the subject or pretend to be completely unaware of what I was talking about, but sometime after we traveled to this ti…"

Nah quickly stopped herself from finishing the sentence, much to all the Shepherds relief.

"I mean, to this country, you began to simply run off whenever I made the smallest mention of my feelings for you!" Nah growled while getting up from her chair. "I know YOU know about my feelings and I know you aren't running away just out of shyness! You didn't run away before, so something clearly changed!"

"W-w-well… Y-you see…" Yarne was clearly at a loss of words.

"Do you dislike me now?! Do you HATE me now?! Is that it?!"

"W-what?! Of course not! I would never hate you!"

"Then why are you doing it?!" Nah's shout echoed through the whole Ylissean Court.

Yarne's already bad situation turned three thousand times worse. His instincts told him to flee as fast as he could, but there was nowhere to go. No place to run, no place to hide, nothing to defend himself… Not even his Beaststone could save his skin.

What was he supposed to do? No matter at which angle he looked things, there was no escape route, so what could he…

…

Yarne mentally punched himself. Of course there was no escape route; he eliminated any he had the moment he started lying.

He always hated fearing everything, being called a coward and disregarded as a scared kitten. He always wanted to show everyone he could be brave and face anything with his chin up; prove his value; set himself as an invaluable member of the army.

And what did he do? He lied because he was too scared to reveal the truth.

He tried to ran away from the problem as much as he could.

Even in that moment, when he was clearly cornered, he continued looking for a way to escape.

" _I'm just a huge coward…"_ he said to himself.

Yarne gritted his fists, disappointed and angry at his own cowardice, the enemy he swore to defeat and now was easily defeating him again.

He hated it. He hated it so much. He hated it with all his might and for a good reason.

It was thanks to his fear that he lost the chance to enjoy so many things in his life.

Adventures with his friends, open conversations with comrades, countless chances to show the world his true talents…

And even…

Yarne shook his head and stared at Nah with newfound determination. His fear already caused a lot of trouble not only for her, but also for Morgan, Lucina, Chrom, his mother… Everyone. Every single person in the army.

He wouldn't succumb to it anymore. It was his chance to face his mistakes like a true man and finally tell what he always wanted. To say what he had to say no matter the consequences.

In other words, to be brave enough to tell the truth.

"N-Nah… I don't hate you. I would never, ever hate you. Even if I wanted, I wouldn't be able to hate you," he looked away. "You're… my best friend. Ever since we were kids… Before we came here…"

Nah began sobbing.

"You're precious to me. Very precious. I always wanted to protect you and keep you safe! To protect you from any harm! To protect you like you were a real part of my family!"

"Then why did you start running away from me?!" the girl inquired indignant.

"L-like you said… Something… changed," Yarne rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Before, I would just play dumb or avoid the subject, but… Ever since we came here…"

Silence. Yarne was clearly having difficulty to find the words.

"What?!" Nah angrily demanded him to continue.

"I thought that… if I… distanced myself… you would eventually... give up on me."

Comments across the whole room.

"W-what?!" the Manakete gasped. "But…?! Why?!"

"I thought it would protect you from harm. That it would be better than telling you the truth," Yarne admitted with a pained tone. "I thought it would be the best for you and me, but it was just an excuse I found to convince myself not to tell you anything. Because… I was too scared to say that I…"

"That you what?!" the girl shouted.

"That I…"

"You what?!"

"I… I…"

"WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?!"

Yarne's cheeks burned intensely as he inhaled as much air as he could and said as firmly as his nervousness allowed:

"I fell in love for another girl."

The whole court room (even Seiji and the judge) gasped in shock.

"Ouch… That hurt my insides and it wasn't even directed at me…" Morgan commented rubbing where her heart was located.

"W… Wha… Whaaaa… Wha…" Nah's left eye began twitching.

"N-Nah?" Yarne called worried. "A-are you… Feeling…?"

" **WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!"** the Manakete girl shouted with the fury of ten thousand dragons.

The young Taguel felt the urge of running away returning and, that time, nobody could blame him for that. Even Sully and Frederick felt genuinely scared of the little girl's outrage.

" **ANOTHER GIRL?! YOU FELL FOR ANOTHER GIRL?!"**

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! C-calm down, Nah!" Yarne desperately shook his arms. "I know it must have hit you like a Bolgadone, but let's not…"

" **CALM DOWN?! CALM DOWN?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?!"**

Out of fear, all the people near Nah retreated at least five feet away from her. Even those who were at a safe distance looked horrified at all the fury a little Manakete could generate in a short period of time.

There were three people who looked at her with expressions full of another emotion that wasn't fear, though.

One of them was Lucina, who also experienced the pain, anguish and irrational anger of a heartbreak and could feel nothing but pity for her friend.

The other was Nowi, whose eyes were filling with tears at seeing her daughter in such a messed-up state.

The third person was the yellow-eyed man, who was watching the whole scene with a sadistic smile, clearly having a much greater time than he should.

" **WHO'S THE GIRL?! I DEMAND TO KNOW?!** " Nah furiously ordered, tears running down from her eyes and saliva escaping from her mouth.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to tell it now…" Yarne smiled awkwardly.

" **TELL ME!** " the girl screamed in an outrage that would probably make her spit fire if she was transformed.

"Alright! Alright! I'll tell! It's… Ah…"

Yarne blushed intensely and covered his face with one hand as he said:

"Morgan."

A morbid silence filled the court room.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I know I haven't been the nicest person in the world to you lately but trying to throw the hot potato on me isn't cool, man!" Morgan complained putting both hands on her hips.

Yarne didn't react; he just remained with his blushing face covered.

And actions speak more than words, because it was more than enough to show Morgan he wasn't lying.

" **WHAT?!** " Nah and Inigo asked in unison.

"Ooooooooooh… This is going to get bad for me," the girl said a bit worried.

" **MORGAN?! MORGAN?! WHAT DID YOU SEE IN HER?!** " Nah asked furiously.

"Hey! What did you mean with that?" the Grandmaster's daughter inquired indignant. "I'll let you know that I'm delicious!"

"Morgan, I don't think that's a good time for thaaat…" Cynthia nervously warned.

"What is that bullshit?! You never showed any signs of liking Morgan!" Inigo yelled from his place clearly irritated.

"Hey! Inigo is right! You never showed any signs of liking me! How can I know it's true?" Morgan inquired.

"H-how am I supposed to show any signs of liking you if every time we were together you were either irritating, scaring or teasing me?!" Yarne said in his defense.

The white-haired girl opened her mouth ready to argue back, but thought a bit better about what he said and ended concluding:

"I guess that makes sense."

"NO! IT DOESN'T!" Inigo screamed.

The whole court room was a giant mess of comments that nobody could understand.

"ORDER! ORDER! I'LL HAVE ORDER!" the judge demanded.

" **WHY YARNE?! WHY?! WHAT DOES MORGAN HAVE THAT I DON'T, HUH?!** " Nah's face was turning a deep red out of rage. " **IS IT JUST BECAUSE I STILL LOOK LIKE A LITTLE GIRL?! IS IT BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THE BODY YOU WANT?! IS IT JUST BECAUSE MORGAN HAS A BIGGER CHEST SIZE THAN AVERSA?!** "

Many girls in the audience (and not only from the Shepherds side), growled slightly jealous.

"Now THAT is exaggerating," Morgan commented.

"O-of course not! I m-mean… Morgan is… very cute and all, but that's not the only reason!" Yarne said.

Inigo began gritting his teeth violently.

" **THEN WHAT ARE THE OTHER REASONS?! YOU JUST SAID SHE ALWAYS TEASES, IRRITATES OR SCARES YOU!** "

"T-that's true, but…" the boy rubbed the back of his head. "I think that's what attracts me so much on her…"

" **EH?!** " Nah's jaw dropped.

"I've always been a coward… Fearing to tell what I feel, think or want to do… Morgan, on other hand, always does whatever she pleases without fear of what the others will think or say about her," Yarne explained. "I won't lie, it's a bit reckless…"

…

"Alright, it's RIDICULOUSLY reckless, but the way she never falters or has doubts of her decisions is so… If I may be so bold to say…" Yarne blushed a bit. "Seductive."

Inigo began chewing his nails.

"Her courage to face everything and resort to the riskiest or most unconventional plans is admiring. I've never seen anyone do something like that!" he suddenly turned to Lucina with an awkward smile. "N-not that IT wasn't very brave and all!"

"It's okay, Yarne. No need to explain," Lucina gave the boy a reassuring smile.

"So, yes, she irritates, scares and teases me like no one ever did, but every time she did it was just a remainder of what I love so much in her," Yarne fidgeted nervously as his cheeks turned redder. "And… to say the truth… I kinda…"

The boy shyly looked at his 'beloved tormentor'.

"Began liking when you call me 'bunny'…"

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!** " both Nah and Inigo screamed as they jumped from their chairs, arms stretched in Yarne's direction and all nerves on their foreheads bulging violently.

The only thing that prevented them from concluding what they planned were all the Shepherds nearby rushing to hold them in place.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Yarne screamed horrified.

" **I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!** " Nah shouted and squirmed in terrifying fury, forcing Nowi, Frederick, Sully, Stahl and Owain to use all their strength to hold her in place.

Not too far behind her, Gaius, Brady, Libra, Olivia had to do the same to Inigo.

"Order! Order!" the judge demanded. "Guards! Put those two out!"

The guards went to where Nah and Inigo were, but even with the help of the Shepherds holding the two, they were unable to carry them out of the room.

" _Oh, dear… Now even I got in trouble because of this case…"_ Morgan nervously thought. _"Maybe it's punishment for what I did to Lucina…"_

The whole court room became a mess after that. People wouldn't stop talking or commenting about the events that unfolded, Nah and Inigo would continue with their hostilities, Yarne continued yapping fearfully in the witness seat and the judge's demands of order went completely ignored.

In fewer words, a scene that would make anyone totally baffled.

Or at least, ALMOST anyone.

" _This is much more amusing than I expected, indeed,"_ the man of yellow eyes mischievously thought while observing the young Mercenary and Manakete. _"You surely were not exaggerating when you told me the Shepherds were a very interesting group, Robin. It is indeed a shame I did not have the chance to meet them before."_

 **To be continued…**

 _Alright, I owe everyone an explanation and here it comes:_

 _I managed to start college this year and, because of that, I've been busier than I usually was thanks to all the stuff that starting college brings. HOWEVER, I can't, by any means, blame it for everything. In fact, that alone has absolutely nothing to do with the time I took to update; it only becomes a factor because of what happened AFTER that._

 _The truth is: after I returned from vacations in January, I started working on my other story and it took a LOT longer than I predicted. After that, I decided I should start the next chapter of this story and, if I had used all the free time I had between that and now, I could not only have finished this chapter, but probably also continued writing one of my other stories. Problem is: every time I had free time I ended being like:_

" _I could go write my story… Or maybe I could insert something that you think would be more interesting here."_

 _I visited relatives, went fishing, had to solve a few things about my job, got addicted to Danganronpa, went out with colleagues of the college to finish some things… It also doesn't help that I still need to finish Ever Oasis, Metroid Samus Returns, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse AND just got Fire Emblem Fates._

 _So, yes, I did some things, but I'm listing them just to tell you guys what consumed my time. Those things are no excuse for the delay because, if I had used my time better, the chapter wouldn't have taken so long. For that, I apologize._ _Unfortunately, I can't say how long it'll take to update again because… well, life is life and you can't predict life or how much procrastination you'll do, but I'll try not to take so long again._

 _So, to end this, thank you so much for reading, sorry for the long delay, a thousand apologies for the HUGE author AGAIN note, because I don't know how to make short author notes (I simply love talking to you guys) and I wish everyone a great day/night._

 _See you later!_

 _And, hopefully, sooner than this time…_


	14. Corpse Party?

_Had to rewrite the entire chapter from scratch. Took me a loooooooong time… And for some weird reason, it also ended being shorter than originally._

 _Oh, well…_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _Nothing, and I mean nothing related to Fire Emblem except for this story and the characters made for it belong to me. It all belongs to Nintendo._

 _Oh, and other franchises and anything related to them also don't belong to me._

 **Morgan: Ace Attorney**

 **Chapter 14: Corpse Party?**

 **Outskirts of Ylisstol, September ?, ? PM**

" _You did what?!"_

"It was just a safety measure," the man smiled unworried.

" _Safety measure?! SAFETY MEASURE?! For a 'safety' measure, that sounded way too UNSAFE to do!"_ the voice on the other side of the phone said exasperated.

"Indeed, but it was necessary."

" _Necessary?! How?!"_

"You know how."

The voice on the phone sighed loudly.

"Do not worry. It is under my control," the man reassured.

" _That's hardly the only problem!"_

"Oh, my… Did I overlook something?"

" _That wasn't part of the deal!"_ the voice complained.

"I know."

" _Then why did you do it?!"_

"My good friend…"

" _Don't. Call. Me. Friend."_

The man seemed a bit surprised at the harsh treatment.

"Such rancor. Are you still upset at me?"

" _You betrayed me. I trusted you and you betrayed me. I saw you as a friend, I took you to my house, I even shared secrets with you and what did you do? You stabbed me on the back!"_

"I do not recall doing any harm to you or your family," the man said with sincerity.

" _What are you talking about?! Of course you have!"_

"How is that possible? If my memory does not fail me…"

" _I'm not talking about ME or THEM,"_ the voice interrupted.

The man seemed a bit confused for a few seconds, then realized what the voice meant and let out a low laugh.

"Oh, foolish me. How could I forget?" he lightly slapped his own forehead. "It has been such a long time since we last talked I did not remember…"

" _Nobody cares,"_ the voice interrupted, clearly unworried about being rude. _"Now, tell me why you did that!"_

"Because my client said so."

" _Your client?!"_ the voice asked in shock. _"You mean…? No, it can't be serious!"_

"It is. My client was very clear about that."

" _No, I know you. There's something you aren't telling me."_

The man laughed a bit.

"You really do know me well, do not you?"

" _What are you planning?"_ the voice asked angrily.

"To follow the plan."

" _Follow the plan?! But what you just did already wasn't part of the plan!"_

"I had to… be creative."

" _W… What?"_ the voice asked confused.

"Things are not as predictable as I… better saying, WE expected."

" _That much I already noticed!"_

"Which means you also noticed that sticking to the plan may not work."

" _What do you mean?! You just said you'll follow the plan and now you're saying that sticking to the plan may not work!"_

The man just giggled.

" _Oh, by the love of… Whatever! Continue with your 'plan' or something! But I swear…"_

"Do not worry," the man calmly said with a smile. "That part will not be altered no matter the circumstances. I myself do not want that to happen. So, rest at ease, my friend."

The voice grumbled something before finishing the call. Afterwards, the man put the phone on the ground and casted an Elfire spell to destroy it. Very few people had phones or smartphones in Ylisse but being precative was never too much.

With his job done, the man adjusted his clothes satisfied and walked away, disappearing behind a hill. A few seconds later, a black stork suddenly appeared from behind the same hill, taking flight to somewhere far away.

 **Outside the court room, Ylissean Court, September 26** **th** **, 07:25 PM**

Due to an unexpected inconvenience in the form of two irate young people who had to be forced out of the court room by the guards and at least nine of the Shepherds and the mess caused by them, the session ended much earlier than planned and the judge delayed the trial for the next day, much to the dissatisfaction of almost everyone in the audience.

The Shepherds were naturally unhappy with how much time it was taking for Lucina to finally be considered not guilty (which many believed to have been already proven), but the other half of the audience made of common people had different reasons to be so upset.

The general opinion on the government became quite poor months preceding the case and that slow-paced trial wasn't helping Chrom's rule any bit. In fact, many people left the Ylissean Court wondering:

"How come it's taking so long to finally end this case when some others were closed without a single proper investigation?"

"Probably because of the princess," many would answer. "If it was someone else from the common folk, they would have thrown the person in jail without a second thought."

That kind of opinion was exactly what the Halidom of Ylisse DIDN'T need in its current state.

However, as much as the royal family's reputation worried her, especially because the royalty's image also affected the Grandmaster's, even if by a lesser extent, Morgan had no time to lose with it. She didn't like the idea of extending the trial by another day, but in her current situation, that was probably for the best.

Yarne's testimony brought up another possibility that neither her nor the prosecution had thought until then: that Nikolai had been fatally injured BEFORE he and Lucina crossed ways.

Was it possible? Without evidence to say otherwise, it surely was, but it also brought up new questions.

When was Nikolai attacked?

Why was he attacked?

What made the marks of swords where he and Lucina were found?

Why were they made?

Why Lucina had a mark of the hilt of Nikolai's sword on the back of her head?

And above everything else, if Nikolai was attacked before finding Lucina, then who attacked him?

To add even more to the mystery, the sudden disappearance of the leaves covered in blood suggested someone tried to sabotage any future investigations, that someone possibly being the real murderer or even an accomplice. However, if that was the case, then why didn't Yarne find any traces of a person there?

There were still pieces of the puzzle missing.

" _Dear gods…"_ Morgan mentally mumbled, putting a hand inside her coat to get the small sack of aspirins she took from her father's office, only to notice she completely forgot to get it before heading to court.

Irritated, with an annoying headache and almost alone in the hall, the girl thought about leaving back home and starting a new investigation the next day when a familiar voice suddenly asked:

"Having a rough time, Bubbles Jr.?"

Morgan turned her head to the left and saw Gaius approaching her, a lollipop in his mouth and both hands behind his head.

"What do you think? Just look at my face…" the girl grumbled.

"Yeah, I see. It's the exact same face your dad makes whenever he's stressed or very tired," the Thief commented with a small smile. "I don't blame you, though. This case is really something else."

"Yeah," Morgan lowly agreed.

"I'll tell you, this entire thing is really messing with everyone, isn't it? I mean, we already exposed some of the most private or worst parts of everyone in the army. Sumia, Henry, Tharja, Cynthia, Yarne… Even the whole story about Lucina's crush on Robin made a triumphal comeback."

"…"

"What?" Gaius asked, noticing his friend's daughter giving him a weird look.

"You don't seem very worried to me," the girl cautiously commented.

Gaius raised an eyebrow in response to the comment. The expression and tone Morgan used were the exact same Robin used whenever he was suspicious of something.

"I'm just taking things slowly and one at a time. Getting too worried about everything at once won't help us any bit," the Thief said casually, waiting to see the girl's reaction.

"Huh… I see…" Morgan said in a low tone, looking away from the man.

Ever since the day the folder was stolen from her father's office, Morgan always had that faint, unpleasant thought in the very back of her head that she always tried to dismiss as foolishness, but at the same time seemed too convincing to be absolutely nothing.

After all, HE surely was a very good candidate for being a suspect.

Versed in the arts of thievery? Check. Could open her father's special lock with relative ease? Check. Knew her father's office well enough to go straight to where the folder probably was? Check. Would know where he hid the pot with chocolates and be daring enough to take some? She wasn't completely sure, but which other thief would match with that last part?

"Bubbles Jr., what is the problem?" Gaius suddenly asked, making Morgan snap out of her thoughts and look confused at him.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing…" she lied.

"You're lying," the Thief shot back.

"What makes you think that?"

"And what makes you think that changing the tone of your voice will convince me you aren't lying?"

The girl twisted her mouth in annoyance. Was she that easy to read?

"It's nothing, seriously."

"I don't think it's nothing and you better tell me," Gaius said challenging and crossed his arms.

" _And what? How am I supposed to say that to you?"_ the girl mentally asked.

"You're worried about saying it to me, aren't you?"

Morgan raised an eyebrow and stared confused at the man's face.

" _Is he a psychic or something?"_

"And in case you're wondering, no, I'm not a psychic. You and your father just happen to make the same expressions for the same things and I know him very well," Gaius practically read her mind.

After a few seconds of astonished surprise, Morgan shook her head to regain composure and decided it was time to discreetly get some answers.

"Gaius, did you notice any kind of strange things in the castle those days?"

"What kind of strange things?" the man asked back.

"People with unnatural behaviors, going where they usually don't or trying to enter in the rooms… that kind of stuff."

The red-haired man rubbed his chin for a few seconds, then said:

"Nothing that caught my eye. Why do you ask?"

The next move would be risky, but Morgan decided it was worth it and said:

"I don't know. I had the faint feeling that some things were missing, but I'm not sure if that was just my impression."

"Wait, do you think I stole the folder from your dad's office?"

The girl looked horrified at Gaius.

"Where did you get that idea?!"

"I noticed you have been looking weird at me ever since the folder disappeared," Gaius crossed his arms. "Just add this with what you just said and to which other conclusion you expected me to arrive?"

Morgan bit her lip irritated. How could she let her feelings be so visible?

"And I gotta say that the way you were looking at me was starting to bug me a lot."

"If that's the case, then why didn't you say anything?!" the girl grumbled.

"To stress you even more than you already are? We know how Bubbles is when he's reaching his breaking point and you're that but three times worse," the man joked. "Believe me, no one wants to wash your underwear AGAIN."

The Grandmaster's daughter felt a small wish to punch the man for bringing back such an embarrassing memory, but that wasn't the time nor the place for it. Since Gaius already knew what she was talking about and that she was suspicious of him, then there was no need to hold back anymore.

"Thank you very much for being so kind to make the accusation for me. You're so gentle. No wonder Olivia fell head over heels for you," Morgan sarcastically said in response to Gaius joke with a very forced smile, then glared fiercely at him. "As for what you asked before, yes, I have reasons to think you're the one who stole the folder."

"And can you tell me why?" the Thief challenged.

"First, the lock of the office is special and can only be opened with the key father, mother and I have."

"How did I enter in the office, then?"

"I wasn't finished," the girl complained. "Because the lock was intact when I arrived at the office, it means only someone with the key or who knew a way to unlock the door without breaking it could have entered. Guess what? Experienced thieves would be able to open that if they have the time and skill. You had both."

"Time? Which time did I have?"

"The patrols in the area where my father's office is located aren't as constant as other places in the castle. Some turns have up to two hours of difference."

"Which means that another thief could have done that," Gaius rolled his eyes. "I'm not the only person with this job in the world, you know?"

"That leads to my second point," Morgan crossed her arms. "Aside from the folder, absolutely nothing was out of place or missing. The person who entered took only the folder and left without leaving a single trace."

"And what does that mean at all?" the man asked annoyed.

"That whoever entered in the office probably knew where the folder was. Only a handful of people know the layout of the office and where father keeps his things. And who is one of those few people, huh?"

"You just said the person PROBABLY knew where the folder was. What if it was just luck? That PROBABLY could be why nothing else was moved," Gaius smiled challenging.

"Last, but not least," Morgan was clearly irritated with the grin on Gaius's face. "Father has a pot of chocolates hidden in his office. Even less people know where he keeps it and it's in a place nobody would look for, but, despite all that, when I checked the pot, there were chocolates missing."

…

"Are you seriously using chocolates to accuse me?" Gaius almost laughed.

"That by itself may sound stupid, but if we connect everything, we can create a connection," Morgan grumbled.

"Oh, really? How?"

"The person who entered in the office is a professional thief, knows the office's layout, where my father keeps his stuff AND was willing to risk leaving clues behind for a bunch of chocolates," she grinned. "That seems to fit your description, Mr. Sweet Addicted Thief Friend of a Certain Grandmaster."

"Alright, Bubbles Jr., let's say for a moment that maybe you're right," the red-haired Thief put a hand on his hip and used the other to mockingly rub his chin like he was in deep thought. "But why would I do that?"

"That's…"

…

"…what you should tell me!"

Morgan felt her cheeks warming up a bit, embarrassed by her own answer.

"Exactly. There's no reason for me to do that. End of story," Gaius smiled.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Morgan shot back. "Even if I don't know the reason, it doesn't mean that couldn't have happened! Most of the time, we only discover a criminal's intention later in the case! Sometimes only after it's over, for Naga's sake!"

"But even considering that, do you think the evidence you have is enough to build a case against me?"

"Of course it is!"

"And is that enough to PROVE I'm the one who took the folder?"

"Who else could have taken it? Is there anyone else who fits that description?!"

Gaius shook his head disapproving.

"Sincerely, I expected more of you, Bubbles Jr."

"What?" Morgan asked confused.

"You said yourself that the person who entered the office PROBABLY knew where the folder was. The same can be said about the pot of chocolates."

"Ooooh... So you're saying whoever entered in the office ran into the folder AND the pot by miracle?" the girl grumbled irritated.

"What says they couldn't? Everything up to now proves that kind of coincidence is possible. Henry hit Sumia in the exact day the crime happened. Henry fell exactly where Yarne was. Yarne ran to the forest just a bit before the crime happened because of something that had absolutely nothing to do with Lucina…"

The white-haired girl tried to counter the argument but couldn't find the words to use.

As much as she hated to admit, he was right. That entire case was an undeniable proof that coincidences of such cryptic nature could happen and lead to something bigger. What more, even though logic said Gaius was the prime suspect for stealing the folder, she lacked any concrete, undeniable evidence to connect him to the happening. Everything she said was just her assumption.

An assumption based on logic, nonetheless, but still just an assumption.

Unless…

"Hold on… If you didn't steal the folder, then what were you doing that day?"

"I was out," Gaius calmly said.

"Out where?"

"I was in the fields close to Ylisstol, relaxing and enjoying some candies."

"Do you have an alibi for that?" Morgan inquired crossing her arms.

"I told Olivia I was going to chill out before leaving home."

"I mean an alibi to prove you really were in the fields and not the castle?"

"No," Gaius said surprisingly unworried.

"Aha!" Morgan pointed at the man, certain of her victory.

"But you also don't have anyone to prove I WAS in the castle, do you?" the Thief quickly asked with a smile.

"Ah… Shit..."

"Exactly. No evidence, no witness, nothing."

With a large smile on his face, Gaius put the stick of the lollipop he finished in his pocket to throw it away later and got another one from one of his 'secret holes' to hide candy.

"I'll tell you, Bubble Jr., I'm a bit impressed by how much you and your dad are alike," he began. "I always knew you two were very similar, but never thought it was that much."

"What do you mean?" the Proxy asked irritated.

"You make the same expressions, act the same way, think the same things… Even have the same absurd ideas."

Gaius chuckled a bit, making Morgan throw a heated glare at him while a nerve bulged on her forehead.

"Now, if you excuse me, I have to go. I promised to help Olivia calm Inigo down to take him home and I don't want to make her wait anymore. So… see ya."

And with that last sentence, the Thief turned around and waved his hand to the girl, leaving her alone with a cheeky smile still on his face.

"The nerve of that guy…" Morgan crossed her arms and growled angry. "Who he thinks I am? Douchebag… Let's see if he'll still make fun of me when I reduce his payment…"

Angered, tired and alone in the Ylissean Court, Morgan had nothing else to do except end her day and prepare for the next one, so she decided to leave and go straight home. She considered making another visit to the Golden Barrel in the way, but the memories (at least the few ones she had) of the last time she was there made her mind think that wouldn't be a very good idea in her current situation and she ultimately gave up.

Alcohol was good now and then, but her bed was good any time.

 **Robin's house, September 26** **th** **, 10:47 PM**

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Huh?! What?! No! No! It wasn't me! It was… Eh?"

Fighting sleepiness and wondering what time it was, Morgan lazily reached her cell phone and checked it. According to the electronic device from another dimension, it was almost 11 PM.

"Are you freaking serious?" the girl grumbled putting a pillow over her head and trying to sleep again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Go away! We don't want anything!" Morgan shouted angrily.

The knocks not only continued but seemed to become louder.

"Oh, for the gods' sake!"

Noticing whoever was bothering her at that time wouldn't give up easily, Morgan forced herself out of bed, walked to the living room, lit a candle, got closer to the door and yelled:

"Go sleep! It's almost eleven in the night!"

"Morgan! It's m-me! Brady!" the boy's voice sounded from the other side of the wood.

"I don't care! Go away! I want to sleep!" the girl grumbled.

"Didn't you stay 'til the e-early hours of morning playin' g-games or doin' whatever else you do?!"

"I do it sometimes, not every time! Now, scram!"

"No way! I w-went through all the trouble of l-leaving my warm house to come here just for this and I'm n-not leaving until you open that damn door!" a familiar voice shouted irritated also from the outside.

"Hold on just a second… Is that Severa?" Morgan asked a bit surprised.

"Of course it's me! N-now, open the door! I'm freezing out here!" the Mercenary complained before loudly sneezing.

"Hey! Sneeze to the o-other side!" Brady complained.

"G-give me a break! You're the one who made me come here at this hour!" Severa shot back.

Brady appearing at that time was surely unusual, but Severa doing the exact same thing during such a cold night was even more intriguing. Because it was so uncommon for both, Morgan ended opening the door despite a small part of her wanting to shoo them away and go back to bed, finding a Priest and a Mercenary trembling and with their noses a light red.

"F-finally!" Severa grumbled as she rushed inside the house and sat on the couch, desperately rubbing her arms trying to create some warmth.

"S-sorry to disturb you so late a-at night, b-but it's kind of an e-emergency!" Brady apologized before also rushing inside and sitting at Severa's side.

Morgan closed the door, locked it and then went to ask her friends what they wanted.

"All right, what's the problem?"

"Before that, do you have something hot to drink?" Severa asked unceremoniously.

"I already took you in, now you want me to serve you too?" the white-haired girl furrowed her brow irritated.

"I was forced out of my bed at late in the night and had to come all the way over here at foot with a demonically cold wind blowing on my face! Do you think I care if I'm being rude or not?!" the Mercenary shot out.

"Calm down, Severa! Nobody asked you to come here with me! Besides, that's not what we came here for!" Brady scolded the girl, although the idea of having something to warm his body was very tempting.

"Thanks. Now, before I start regretting my decision, can you two explain why you came disturb me so late at night and why couldn't you have waited until tomorrow morning?"

"That's the exact same thing I was asking myself…" Severa lowly complained.

Ignoring his companion's comment, Brady took a better position on the couch and asked:

"Morgan, did you find the message I left in the folder Ma gave you?"

"Of course. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah, but I mean… the OTHER message."

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"OTHER message? Which OTHER message?"

The girl's reaction was enough to tell both Brady and Severa that she didn't.

POW

"Ouch! What was that for?!" the Priest complained, rubbing the spot Severa hit on his arm.

"I told you to make it simpler to find, didn't I?!" the girl roared.

"I already said why I had to make it the way I did! Did ya forget?!"

"Alright, alright, lovebirds. Stop fighting and tell me exactly what is happening," Morgan intervened, noticing they would continue arguing forever if she stayed quiet.

"LOVEBIRDS?! ME AND THAT… NO WAY!" both Brady and Severa said at the same time.

"Sure. Of course not," the white-haired girl smiled mischievously. "You're even saying the same things in synchrony."

"ONLY IN YOUR IMAGINATION!" they both said at the same time once again.

As much as Morgan wanted to enjoy that moment a bit longer, she decided to press Brady to explain what was happening and know the reason of the sudden visit.

"Morgan, do you remember what I said 'bout believing Chrom just wanted your dad to be Lucina's attorney 'cause he's his best friend and all?"

"Yes."

"Well…" the boy scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "I lied."

Morgan's eyes went wide open before her expression changed to an annoyed one and she facepalmed.

"Of course… What else is new…" she lamented.

"Hey! I don't lie all the time!" Brady said defensively.

"I'm not talking about… Ah! Whatever! Just continue!" the Grandmaster's daughter shook a hand dismissively.

"Different from what I told you, I wasn't convinced of Chrom's explanation. I still had a faint feeling that something seemed off and decided to do some investigation of my own. By the way…" his expression changed to a curious one. "Did ya find something off with his motives?"

Morgan sighed and told:

"My men discovered that father has somewhat of a good image with everyone that would participate in the trial."

"And that's important because…?" the boy raised an eyebrow.

"Because Chrom knew absolutely everyone who would be in the trial beforehand thanks to the law that allows him. Even if indirectly and unintentionally, father's opinions and theories would have greater impact on the audience and even the judge than the prosecution, who, despite being good, lacks the same level of popularity."

"Hold on… Are you saying..." Severa began.

"I can't say for sure because I lack evidence for that, but it's possible that Chrom wanted to use father's influence over the audience and the Ylissean Court to turn the tables at Lucina's favor."

Brady gasped loudly.

"W-what?! But that… that would be abuse of power! Even if it was for Lucina's sake, that would be almost a crime!"

"I know. That's why I haven't told anyone about it until now," Morgan crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. "The last thing I want is even more dirt being thrown on the royal family. Especially now with the political and economic crisis."

"Dirty bastard…" Severa said with disgust. "And mother still thinks he's some great guy…"

"Calm your tits, girl. Like I said, there's no evidence to prove that's really the case," Morgan interrupted. "That's just a theory I made using what I discovered, but I could be completely wrong."

"Do you plan on pressing Chrom about the matter?" Brady asked a bit worried.

"I don't know," Morgan sighed. "While father is out, my authority is the same as the Grandmaster, so I can confront him in almost equal terms, but I think it's something that father would do better. Besides, it's such a small thing when compared to the rest of this mess I'm having doubts if that's even worth the trouble of starting an argument with Blueberry head."

"Blueberry head?" the Priest repeated confused, while Severa let out a short, low evil giggle.

"Father usually refers to Chrom that way whenever he's angry with him and I kind of liked that," the girl grinned mischievously. "In any case, you were saying…?"

"Oh, yeah. The rest of the story."

Brady then resumed his narrative.

"I was still unconvinced of Chrom's explanation and decided to investigate myself, but I didn't tell Ma any of that 'cause… Well, I doubt she would believe he was up to something."

"Of course. Aside from maybe me and a few other people, who else would? The Shepherds blindly think he's the epitome of perfection," Morgan sighed.

"I went to Ylisstol to look for anything that could lead me to any kind of clue, when I ran into Severa. I wasn't plannin' to say anything, but she pressured me 'til I told her what happened. Then, she offered to join me."

"Really? Why?" the white-haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"Because it really sounded like Chrom was up to no good," Severa suddenly told. "Usually, I wouldn't poke my nose in that kind of stuff, but it involved Lucina. That alone was enough to convince me to check myself."

That's what she said, but Morgan knew that wasn't the only reason.

After an entire childhood of being forced to listen her mother singing praises to Chrom almost daily, Severa ended creating a small dislike for the Exalt. Mind you, she didn't resent or hate him by any means, although you could say she wasn't a huge fan of his and always had a tiny little part of her that wanted to find something, ANYTHING to throw a bucket of cold water on her mother's undying passion for him.

Was she worried for Lucina? She surely was, no doubts about that, but that little will of finding something to stain the immaculate image Cordelia had of Chrom probably played a small part on her suddenly deciding to join Brady.

Which was, by the way, the very reason Severa was chosen to be part of the investigation team Morgan made along Priam, Walhart, Yen'fay, Emmeryn, Gangrel, Priam and Inigo. The Mercenary didn't have the best relationship with Chrom, Priam was rarely nearby, Yen'fay and Walhart lived far away, Emmeryn almost never left the clinic and Gangrel avoided Ylisstol for his own reasons, so the chances of anything about the investigation reaching Chrom's ears were very slim, especially the little job of checking the Exalt's actions Morgan gave to the Elite Trio.

As for Inigo, Morgan had a reason to call him, but it probably wasn't a very good one since she forgot what it was just a few hours after the investigation ended.

Back to the main story, Morgan knew Severa wasn't being totally honest, but also knew there was absolutely no reason to bother her about that and asked Brady to continue.

"First, we went to the Ylissean Court to ask for details about the case. The only things they told us were what everyone already knew and the rest was confidential, so it was mostly useless."

"After that, Brady decided to go to Ylisstol," Severa crossed her arms.

"Ylisstol? Why?" Morgan asked confused. "I mean, I can't really imagine what kind of information you could get from the people of the town that would be useful for what you were looking for."

"You just need to know… the right people to ask," Brady nervously told.

"The right people to ask for?" Morgan put both hands on her hips and gave the boy a suspicious glare. "What do you mean?"

Brady fidgeted nervously and remained quiet. It was Severa who revealed what he meant by blurting out:

"People from the Ylissean black market."

Morgan's eyes shot wide open in shock.

"The black market?" the girl inquired, unable to process what she heard. "How do you know people from the black market? When did you know people from the black market? **Why** do you know people from the black market?"

"I exert my right to stay silent," Brady weakly countered.

"Brady was more broken than a Glass Sword after battle and needed quick cash to pay for the smartphone he asked you, so he did some deals with the illegal merchants out of desperation," Severa bluntly revealed.

If she wasn't a girl and the only person he could trust to keep his secret, Brady would surely have succumbed to desire and punched Severa on the spot.

"Does Maribelle know any of that?" Morgan asked raising an eyebrow.

"O-of course not!" the young Priest yapped. "If she knew, I would be buried alive!"

"You probably would…" the Grandmaster's daughter scratched her cheek. "Anyways, you went to Ylisstol and…?"

With a loud sigh, Brady rubbed the back of his head and resumed his narrative.

"We went to Ylisstol and began askin' some of the guys I know. If there're places where I can discover anything dirty about the royal family, those places surely are the territories dominated by the black market."

"Yeah… Considering most of the people that work for the Ylissean black market despise the government, their areas of control surely are the best place to look for any kind of wrong Chrom did," Morgan commented.

"Weren't they who started spreading around that Lucina was in love with your father?" Severa suddenly asked, to which Morgan nodded.

To be more precise, they said Lucina was super thirsty for Robin, would snatch any kind of stuff that resembled him, opposed the Grandmaster's decision of making Aversa captain of the Pegasus Knights out of petty jealousy and even tried to mix aphrodisiacs in his food.

Unfortunately, only one of the mentioned facts was false.

"But you didn't find anything, right? At least, nothing substantial to what you wanted to know, otherwise you wouldn't have asked me if I found something about Chrom," Morgan concluded.

"Yeah, we didn't find anything… About Chrom, that is. As for Nikolai…" Brady said the last part a bit unease.

"Nikolai? The merchant that was murdered?" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

For some reason, Brady exchanged a quick glance with Severa before taking a deep breath and revealing:

"Morgan, the man wasn't just a regular merchant. I accidentally brought up his name while speakin' with one my acquaintances and he recognized it. We asked what he knew about him and he told us that Nikolai also worked as a merchant in the Ylissean black market. More specifically…"

"The Ylissean drugs traffic," Severa finished for her companion.

"The Ylissean drugs traffic?!" Morgan said a bit more surprised and louder than she wanted to sound. "But why isn't anything like that mentioned in any document or file I've seen about him so far?!"

"We made that exact same question," Brady told. "My acquaintance said they never managed to prove Nikolai's connection to the Ylissean drugs traffic for lack of evidence."

"Lack of evidence?" the Grandmaster's daughter asked confused.

"Nikolai used to be at the bottom of the opium traffic hierarchy when that was still a thing in Ylisse, many years ago," Severa went to explain. "He was small fish, only having to transport the opium between areas controlled by his faction and sometimes handling sales. As time went on, the opium traffic lost its profitability and the government managed to arrest many people who commanded the entire network. Nikolai's faction was one of the first ones to fall."

"Because he had a very small role in the process and barely ever kept any opium with him, he escaped any suspicions the government had of him completely unscathed," Brady added.

"But all that happened years ago," Morgan raised an eyebrow. "The way you said he worked for the black market made it sound like it happened recently."

"That's the catch," the young Mercenary crossed her arms. "After his faction fell and the government stopped paying attention to him, Nikolai returned to the drugs traffic, using all the experience he acquired to negotiate all kinds of illegal substances."

"Opium, illegal tobacco, alcohol of dubious origins… The list goes on," Brady told.

"And more," Severa began. "Nikolai would get the drugs from the people who produced or sneaked it through the borders and sell it to the final customer, but he always made sure to never have any kind of involvement with neither the person from who he bought it neither the people who would buy it from him, keeping his identity a secret and avoiding being put under the spotlight."

…

"What?" Morgan tilted her head confused.

"In other words," Brady grumbled. "he never told his name and kept contact with both the seller and the buyer at a minimum, so if any of them was caught it would be harder to report or discover him."

"Aaaaaah… Now I get it. Sheesh… For someone who keeps complaining about me not being straightforward, you surely know how to word things weirdly."

"Shut up!" Severa shot at Morgan.

"So, Nikolai continued working for the drugs traffic even after his faction was dissolved but remained as small and secretive as possible to avoid being caught, just like it happened when he escaped the authorities the first time," the white-haired girl rubbed her chin thoughtfully, ignoring her irritated friend. "Very clever, I must admit."

"As extra safety measure, Nikolai worked most of the time as a regular merchant, only acceptin' drug deliveries if the pay was worth the risk," Brady said. "He also made sure to let only the people he trusted the most to know 'bout his job in the black market. The only reason my acquainted told me all that is 'cause Nikolai's already dead. Otherwise, he wouldn't spill a single bean."

After seeing the victim's profile once and seeing absolutely nothing wrong with it, that discovery surely was something Morgan wasn't expecting.

Nikolai Loss, the man mysteriously murdered inside Ever Woods in that fatidic night that stained Lucina's reputation (more than it already was after all the rumors related to Robin, that is) wasn't just a regular merchant, but in fact an active member of the Ylissean black market. The drugs traffic, nonetheless.

That seemingly innocent merchant managed to escape the hammer of justice AND continue with his unsavory job right under the government's nose for more time than anyone would like to admit. Surely, a huge failure from the Halidom's part and something that would be a nuke on the royal family's head should it reach the ears of the people.

Well, at least justice somewhat prevailed in the end. Even if he escaped arrestment, Nikolai ended paying the price for his crimes.

"Hold on just a second!" the thought made Morgan realize something.

"Huh? What?" Brady asked.

"If Nikolai worked for the drugs traffic, he could very well have been murdered by someone who works for the black market!"

"That's certainly possible," Severa agreed. "The Ylissean black market is a very treacherous segment to work with and the drugs traffic is probably the sketchiest and most dangerous part of it. It isn't uncommon for people who work with drugs to be killed by the smallest reasons, from the bottom to the very top of the hierarchy."

"That means there are lots of other possible suspects that could have finished him for the most varied reasons! It would lead the entire case on a whole different direction!" Morgan exclaimed loudly.

"Yeah… it probably would…" Brady said in a low tone.

"Then why didn't you tell that before?!" the Grandmaster's daughter asked angrily.

A bit embarrassed, Brady fidgeted hesitantly for a few seconds before saying:

"I wanted to tell, but I couldn't."

"You better have a very good reason for that…" Morgan snapped her fingers threateningly.

With a sigh, the young Priest looked at the girl and, with a worried expression, told:

"We were being followed."

Morgan's irritation immediately dissipated and was replaced by sheer astonishment.

"You were… what?"

"After we finished talking with the guy Brady knows, we noticed someone following us," Severa said.

"Who was that person?" Morgan asked.

"A young boy, probably sixteen years old or around that. Short, deep black hair, big yellow eyes and a dead fish face that freaked me out," Brady described, shuddering a bit at the memory of the boy's emotionless eyes staring at him. "Wherever we went, he would be some meters behind, always spyin' us."

"We managed to lose him in a crowded street, but Brady continued feeling insecure and decided to go back home to discuss what we would do. Which is, by the way, when he had the brilliant idea of hiding a sheet of paper with everything we discovered in the most ridiculous way I've ever seen in my life."

"I was being cautious!" the boy said defensively.

"Yeah, so cautious that neither Morgan could find it!" Severa shot back. "Why worry about someone ruining everything if you just did it yourself?!"

Brady was about to argue back, but Morgan decided to intervene and stop them, otherwise they could probably continue fighting like two old people for hours.

"Urgh… Like Severa said, we lost him in the crowd, but stayin' there with someone that could appear from anywhere at any time would be a horrible idea, which is why I decided to go back home to discuss what we should do," Brady told. "It was a no brainer that we needed to tell you what we discovered, but the boy that was followin' us made me very worried of how and when I would tell you."

"What do you mean?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"Brady became too paranoid of someone trying to interfere with him and refused to go tell you face to face," Severa grumbled annoyed.

"I had to find a way to tell you all that without giving any chance of anyone boycottin' it," the boy ignored the girl at his side. "Tellin' you straight away was too risky as someone could follow and hear me. That's when I had the idea of hidin' a sheet of paper with everything we discovered in the folder Ma gave you. Because it was more important and confidential than the other message I gave you, I hid it a bit better."

"And how exactly did you hide it?" the white-haired girl inquired.

"I glued the sheet on another paper. To make sure it wouldn't be noticeable unless you had it with you, I only put glue on the very corners of the sheet."

"I told him to make it a bit more visible, but noooooo! He had to go all…"

"CAN YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH?! I'M ALREADY SICK OF YOU PICKIN' ON ME 'CAUSE OF THAT!"

Both Severa and Morgan looked a bit shocked at the boy glaring at the former. After his mind fully registered what he had done, Brady's expression slowly turned into an embarrassed one and he turned his face away from them as his cheeks became a light pink.

"S-sorry…" he weakly muttered.

"Don't worry…" Morgan scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"Hey! It's me who should say if…"

"I can now understand why you decided to use such a… different technique to hide the paper," Morgan interrupted Severa. "But why didn't you use your smartphone to send me a message? Practically nobody in Ylisse has one, so there's no way…"

"A bit after arrivin' home, we received messages," Brady revealed.

Morgan stared confused at the boy.

"Messages? From who?"

"We don't know the number who sent them, but they read…"

 _ **It is still early to reveal Nikolai's past. Of course, you are free to try, but will I interfere?**_

 _ **Who knows?**_

Morgan felt a shiver running down her spine. The message indirectly told whoever sent it not only knew Brady and Severa discovered about Nikolai, but also that they planned to reveal everything to the princess's attorney. It even mockingly challenged them to try.

"That's why I decided to not use the smartphone," Brady said in a low voice.

"At least with that we both agreed," Severa added. "Very few people in Ylisse have smartphones, so for someone to send us a message after what happened… There was no way it couldn't be suspicious."

Suspicious indeed. After all, they knew Brady and Severa's plan, had a smartphone of their own AND knew the two young Shepherds' numbers. The former two were easier to explain, as they were being followed by a mysterious person, thus meaning someone probably knew what they were doing, and having a smartphone was just a matter of getting one from the Outrealms, but having their personal numbers? Nobody aside the few members of the Shepherds who also had smartphones knew their numbers, so how the sender discovered it?

Hijack? Blackmail? Bought information?

And who would have given them their numbers? Considering everything Morgan knew, it had to be a Shepherd, but who from the army could…

" _Wait… Could it be…?"_

"Morgan?" Brady asked, noticing the girl's expression suddenly becoming extremely serious. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh? Oh! I-it's nothing…" the girl lied, trying to push the thought away.

"No, it definitely isn't," Severa countered. "What are you thinking?"

Morgan fidgeted nervously. Would it be a good idea to tell them what she was thinking?

"Morgan," Severa said firmly.

Could she even accuse someone based solely on assumption?

"Morgan?" Brady called worried.

Even more, could she accuse a FRIEND based solely on her assumptions and risk destroying the Shepherds' confidence on each other?

"Morgan!" both Severa and Brady called out at the same time.

The Grandmaster's daughter made up her mind, looked at her friends with a serious expression and firmly said:

"I can't tell you."

"What? Why not?!" the young Mercenary asked angrily.

"I'm sorry, guys… I just…" Morgan bit her lip and looked away. "I just can't. I myself am uncertain of what I'm thinking and bringing it up now without proof could make things even worse than they already are."

"You complained that Brady, Yarne, Lucina and everyone else isn't being sincere or is hiding stuff from you, but you're doing the exact same thing now!" Severa said irritated.

"I know. I know I'm being a hypocrite, but…"

Morgan sighed deeply and looked sadly at her friends.

"What I'm thinking right now could destroy us."

The two young Shepherds sitting on the couch looked worried at Morgan.

"D-destroy us?" Brady asked fearfully.

"If it's the truth, then I'll tell it to everyone when the time comes, but now I lack any kind of evidence to know if I'm right or wrong. That's why I can't tell yet. First, I need to discover if it's true, so… Please, give me some time. I'll tell everything, just give me some more time."

Brady and Severa ended even more tempted to know what Morgan was thinking, but her seriousness was a clear sign that they should listen to her. As such, they decided to leave it at that and wait to see what would happen.

"Alright, Morgan. We'll do as you say and wait," Severa crossed her arms and leaned on the couch. "But as soon as you discover if what you're thinking is true or not, you better tell us!"

"Thank you," the white-haired girl smiled relieved. "I promise I will."

"Well, now that we already did what we came here to do…" Brady took a deep breath and got up. "We'd better get back home."

"Are you kidding me?! I'm not going out there again! It must be even colder than before!" Severa complained.

"Which reminds me…" Morgan turned to the boy. "Why didn't you wait until morning? You already waited up to this moment to finally tell me all that. Besides, weren't you afraid whoever sent the message would try to interfere?"

"I can't wait anymore," the Priest said lowly. "What we discovered about Nikolai may end this case at once and the only reason I hid the message the way I did was 'cause I feared someone interferin'. I have nothing to prove it, but the theft of the folder… I think there's more to it than just messin' with Lucina's case."

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"We were bein' followed, we received a message from someone who knew our numbers and what we planned to do…" Brady gave the girl a serious look. "I strongly believe who stole the folder knew or at least suspected I hid something related to Nikolai there."

Morgan rubbed her chin thoughtful. Now that Brady mentioned, there definitely was a possibility. After all, if the person who texted them knew they planned to tell their discoveries and found out their numbers, then discovering about Brady's message wasn't too farfetched.

And if the person was so determined to keep Nikolai's past hidden, then the motivation for his murder could be related to something from the merchant's hidden life as a drugs dealer.

There was something fishy happening behind the scenes of that crime.

"It still doesn't explain why you forced me to get out of my house at this hour…" Severa grumbled.

"Forced you? YOU are the only one to blame for that!" Brady shot back irritated.

"You mentioned something like that when you arrived. What exactly do you mean?" Morgan asked curious.

"I wanted to tell you everything as soon as possible, which is why I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow. I just happened to pass in front of Severa's house and she just happened to see me passin' nearby when she began interrogatin' me on what I was doin'! Before I knew, she decided to come with me!"

"I didn't decide to do that! You wanted me to come with you!" the girl retorted.

"But I never forced you to come with me!"

"In other words, YOU wanted her to come with you and YOU decided to come with him out of your own free will?"

Both the Priest and the Mercenary gave Morgan a stern glare and threatened:

"Don't you dare."

"ShipPING AS usual, I see!"

"NO! WE'RE NOT!" the boy and the girl shouted angrily.

"Of course not," Morgan giggled mischievously. "Now, Romeo and Juliet, you two better go back home. It's late and I sincerely don't want you two getting in trouble."

"Can you stop…! Ah! Never mind!" Brady grumbled and made his way to the door. "Besides, you're right. We'd better get back home."

"I'm not leaving! It's freaking cold out there!" Severa insisted.

"And what? We both left our houses without permission in the middle of the night. What will happen if our parents wake up and discover it, huh?" the Priest grumpily asked putting both hands on his hips. "I don't know 'bout you, but I don't wanna stay here to let Ma and Pa find out!"

Unwilling to face the cold weather outside of the house, Severa crossed her arms and stubbornly refused to move a single inch. However, the more she thought on the possibility of her parents discovering she left home in the middle of the night and the kind of punishment she would receive, the more her resolve weakened. Eventually, she ended giving up, grumpily got up from the couch and walked to the door.

"Morgan, before we go, I just wanna apologize again for hidin' it all from you," Brady gave the girl an apologetical look. "I really hope you understand why I did what I did."

"Don't worry, man," Morgan gave him a reassuring smile. "I was a bit angry at first, but I know you meant the best. Besides…"

She scratched the back of her head and smiled awkwardly.

"To be completely honest, my hands aren't exactly clean as well."

"Huh?" both Brady and Severa looked confused.

"Long story. I'll tell you later," Morgan tried to dismiss.

The Priest and Mercenary shared a suspicious look before deciding to ignore it for the time being and prepared to return home. Brady opened the door and shivered at the extremely cold wind blowing on his face, almost losing the courage to step outside.

"H-here we go again…" he said clearly not excited to face the weather, gathering all the courage he could and running outside.

Severa just grumbled a few words before forcing herself out of the house and closing the door behind her, leaving Morgan alone once again.

Still thinking about everything she heard, the white-haired girl sat on the couch, exactly where Severa was before, and stared at the ceiling, processing their story and trying to make some sense out of it.

The first thing that came to her mind was the so destructive theory she refused to tell Brady and Severa:

Could Gaius be related to the messages they received?

Like she said before, without concrete evidence it was nothing more than a guess, but the candy addicted Thief/Assassin of the Shepherds was also her primary suspect for stealing the folder from her father's office. If he had the guts to do it, then he surely would have the guts to send the messages to mess with Brady and Severa's plan.

But which evidence Morgan had to prove it? Absolutely none, which automatically put the veracity of such theory in check.

Even if the lack of evidence wasn't a problem, there would still be the mystery of the motive. After all, if that was really Gaius doing, why would he want to interfere with Lucina's case? Why would he want to interfere with Brady and Severa's investigation? Was he even the one responsible for any of those things?

And if he wasn't, then who could it be?

The many questions without answers began pilling one after the other inside Morgan's head, making the same annoying headache that had been plaguing her ever since Lucina's case became much more complicated return with full force. That or maybe her mind was just unconsciously trying to make her stop thinking about Gaius having a finger in that mess.

He could be a bit annoying at times and her opinion of him in the moment wasn't exactly the best thanks to the very unpleasant conversation she had with him hours before, but he was still a friend and an important member of the big, weird family that the Shepherds' were, which made the simple possibility of him having sabotaged Lucina's defense leave a very sour taste in Morgan's mouth.

Noticing it wouldn't be good to continue banging her head on a suspicion she didn't have a single evidence to prove true or false, the white-haired descendant of the Grandmaster decided to think about something else. That something else being…

"Nikolai worked to the black market…"

Morgan furrowed her brow. Nikolai being murdered by someone from the black market was entirely possible, especially because of his unsavory job, but if that was the case…

"Then why he had sword cuts made by Falchion on him?"

On one hand, Lucina claimed Nikolai wasn't in the clearing when she fell unconscious, making it impossible for her to have murdered him. On other hand, only those who Falchion deemed worthy of it could use the legendary blade, so a regular bandit or criminal couldn't just knock the princess out and use her sword to kill the merchant.

"Falchion becomes blunt when wielded by someone unworthy," Morgan thought aloud. "They couldn't have used it to finish Nikolai. Then how Falchion was used to kill him?"

Then, she remembered the testimony Yarne gave in trial.

"Could he have been killed BEFORE arriving in the clearing?" the girl asked herself. "If that's the case, then how did he end in the clearing? They carried him there? They found Lucina and decided to frame her? And the marks… Those damn marks still make no sense…"

The only people who could use Falchion were Lucina, Chrom and Cynthia (the latter wasn't very known for that), but only the older princess would make sense. Chrom wasn't anywhere nearby and Cynthia had Gerome as alibi, leaving Lucina as the only who could have used the sword to kill Nikolai.

But that couldn't be true. Morgan was sure it couldn't have been Lucina and not only because she was her friend, but because all her discoveries said she wasn't lying. Even the most absurd or confusing parts of her testimony began making sense after more witnesses told their sides of the story, but that last bit with Falchion remained unanswered.

Brady and Severa raised the possibility of Nikolai being murdered by someone else who wasn't the princess. However, the marks on the merchant's body contradicted it. They were a clear sign that Lucina was the only one who could have killed him.

"Unless…"

Morgan furrowed her brow as an idea came to her mind.

"Unless it wasn't Falchion."

If that was the case, then it surely could have been someone else. It would fit perfectly with what Brady and Severa discovered. It would open a whole new set of possibilities and probable murderers.

But if it wasn't Falchion, then why did they say he had marks made by it on his body?

Was it a mistake or…

"Could it have been on purpose?"

Morgan got up, ran to her room, took her cellphone and dialed to the only member of the Elite Trio she knew was awake at that time.

"Come on… Come on… Come on… Pick up… Pick up… Pick up…"

It took a few more seconds until her call was answered.

" _I already said I don't wanna! I have a job and can't go out to drink every night!"_

"Flea?" the girl asked raising an eyebrow.

" _Ah! B-boss! Sorry! I didn't see the number and thought it was someone else!"_ the young boy apologized.

"Ah… It's fine," Morgan scratched her cheek awkwardly, wondering who he thought it was. "Tell me, who made the autopsy of Nikolai?"

" _The autopsy? If I'm not mistaken it was some guy called Alphonse Chell."_

"Where does he work?"

" _He is a specialist in criminal autopsy for the Ylissean Court."_

"Flea, get that guy and bring him to me as soon as possible."

" _Found something, boss?"_ the boy asked.

"Maybe, but I need to speak with him before I can say anything."

" _Understood. I'll go to the Ylissean Court early in the morning to look for him."_

"Good, thank you," Morgan said.

" _Something else, boss?"_ Flea asked.

"Yes, one more thing," the girl said serious. "Is there any way to see Nikolai's body?"

 **Commercial district, Ylisstol, September 27** **th** **, 06:08 AM**

"I was expecting a graveyard or something…" Morgan said to herself, staring a bit awkwardly at the house in front of her.

The building was relatively small, made of bricks, had a roof full of holes, an old wooden door and only one window. It was also located in a commercial street, having a candy store to the left and an old antiques shop to the right.

Which made sense; Nikolai was a merchant, so living in a commercial street would make finding a place to build his store or sell his stuff easier.

" _If I'm not mistaken, that antiques shop is the one he used to own,"_ Morgan thought.

That also made sense; living close to his shop would make daily life much easier.

What still didn't make much sense to her was the strange custom his family had of keeping the bodies of their deceased in their houses for one entire week before finally sending them to the graveyard.

Even stranger was people deciding to follow the custom of his family even though Nikolai was the last remaining member of the Loss lineage, meaning there would be no one to complain if they just buried him right after his body was returned from the autopsy like they would do for any regular person.

" _Well, culture is culture and it must be respected…"_ the girl awkwardly mumbled to herself in her mind while making her way to the door of Nikolai's house.

When she unlocked the door using the key given to her by Flea earlier that morning and was about to turn the doorknob, a familiar voice from behind her softly said:

"Fancy meeting you here."

Wondering if she heard who she thought she had, Morgan turned her face to look at the owner of the voice without letting go of the doorknob and became a bit surprised.

"Seiji?"

Behind her, the figure of the young prosecutor wearing less formal clothing stood with his hands on his back and an emotionless expression on his face.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked.

"What are YOU doing here?" the girls asked back.

"I asked first, so you answer me first," Seiji smiled.

Morgan suppressed a slightly annoyed sigh as she let go of the doorknob and said with an exaggerated formality:

"I'm here to check the victim's body."

"Didn't you get a report of his autopsy?" Seiji asked raising an eyebrow.

"I did," Morgan answered.

"Then why check on the body?"

"I have my reasons."

Seiji gave her a suspicious look.

"What about you?" the girl asked.

"Like you said, I have my reasons."

"Oh, come on! I at least gave you a minor idea of what I'm doing here!" Morgan complained.

"That doesn't mean I have to tell anything about my agenda or plans to you," Seiji smiled mockingly. "If you don't mind giving information to the opposing side, that's no skin off my back. Just don't expect me to do the same."

"Seiji, you know we aren't in court, don't you?"

"And you know I wouldn't give any kind of information my rival could use against me in court, don't you?"

"You prick…"

"You silly girl," the boy shook his head and giggled.

Pouting a bit irritated at her rival, Morgan turned her back to him, walked towards the door and grabbed the doorknob. Before she could turn it, she was interrupted once again by Seiji suddenly asking:

"May I join you?"

Morgan raised an eyebrow and looked puzzled at the prosecutor.

"Join me? For what? Look at the body?"

"Yes," Seiji quickly answered.

"You don't want to share your agenda with me, but you want me to let you join mine?" Morgan glared at him. "It doesn't sound very fair to me."

"It just happens that I was about to see the body as well," the boy explained. "Since you'll do the same, I thought it would be faster for us to do it together. After all, we're going to see the same thing, so it isn't like we'll be disrupting or gaining an upper hand over the other."

"And why do you want to see the body?"

"…"

"You won't tell me, will you?"

"Do I really need to answer?" the prosecutor asked back a bit annoyed.

"Sheesh…" Morgan rolled her eyes. "I would usually kick you away just for that, but you're right that it won't make much of a difference if we both are going to see it anyways, so… Whatever, come in if you want."

Saying a quick and almost inaudible 'thank you', Seiji got closer to the girl and waited for her to open the door. With a short sigh, Morgan turned the doorknob and was greeted by a rather creepy scene.

Laying on a table in the middle of the room, in front of a red armchair and just a bit away from a cupboard, a medium sized casket made of wood with a bouquet of flowers on its cover appeared before them. There wasn't anything particularly horrifying with any of that, but it still made a shiver run down Morgan's spine.

"You can always leave," Seiji mocked, apparently having noticed the girl's reaction to the casket's sudden appearance.

"Leave? Why would I do that?" Morgan looked at him with a confident smile. "I've seen dead bodies time and time again while fighting in the war. A simple casket doesn't scare me."

But it did. For some weird reason it did. Even after seeing the lifeless bodies of thousands of enemies, that totally regular casket managed to make a shiver run down her spine.

Morgan wasn't heartless by any means; death wasn't anything to joke about and the horrors of war tormented her dreams for many weeks before Grima fell and peace was restored. It was just that, as horrible as it may sound, she kind of got used to those things.

So, why did that casket make her shiver?

Could it be because it was related to Lucina? Because she knew the casket had a body that could lead to many other mysteries?

Or could it be something entirely different?

"If that's the case, then why are you still there?" Seiji crossed his arms.

"I was just thinking to myself," Morgan dismissed, putting her thoughts aside and approaching the wood casket. "Now, let's see…"

The girl gently took the bouquet from the cover and put it aside as Seiji walked to the other side of the table and looked at the morbid object.

"Alright! All we have to do now is…" Morgan grabbed the side of the cover and prepared to open the casket.

"HOLD ON JUST A SECOND!"

Morgan yapped, startled at the sudden order.

"Hey! Don't scare me!" she complained.

"Open that thing SLOWLY, okay?" Seiji asked with a serious tone.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You seriously don't know?"

The expression Morgan made was a clear sign she didn't.

"Oh, my gods…" Seiji rolled his eyes and suppressed an annoyed sigh. "Morgan, what is inside this casket?"

"Nikolai's body, duh," the white-haired girl said nonchalant.

"More specifically, Nikolai's CORPSE," the prosecutor corrected.

"Of course. He's dead."

"Exactly, he's dead."

"And the problem is…?" Morgan asked annoyed.

"The problem is WHEN he died."

At first, Morgan didn't get exactly why that mattered and wondered what Seiji's point was. However, as she thought about that, she came to realize why the prosecutor hesitated at opening the casket at once.

"Oh… Oh! OOOOH! OH, MY GODS!" the girl took her hands of the cover.

"See? If I weren't here…" Seiji facepalmed.

"Oh, boy…" Morgan bit her lip a bit worried, then looked at the prosecutor. "Open it."

"Huh?! Why me?!" the boy asked surprised at the sudden request.

"Why not?!" the girl shot back.

"You're the one that was going to open it!"

"Yeah, but it was before I remembered the body inside it is probably all rotten, gross and smelly!"

"It surely isn't in the best condition, but that may be a bit of an exaggeration. I mean, it's been what? Five days? Six at most?"

"Then why don't you open it?!"

"B-because…!" Seiji stuttered.

"See?! You're worried about it being all rotten, gross and smelly as much as I am!"

Blushing a bit, the prosecutor facepalmed, shook his head and glared at his rival.

"A-alright! I do admit I'm a bit worried about that! But if I were alone, I would open it anyways even if a part of me doesn't want! It's for the sake of the case!"

"Then open it!" Morgan stepped back and pointed at the casket.

"B-but you were already going to do it!" it was the prosecutor's turn to step back. "Besides, didn't you say that you saw dead bodies many times during the war?!"

"Yeah, but those were fresh bodies of recently killed people! Not decomposing ones!" the white-haired attorney retorted. "What about you?! Didn't you see lots of corpses too?!"

"I saw a few, but they were also considerably fresh," the prosecutor told. "Bodies that are already decomposing are sent straight to the autopsy and I only receive the reports."

Morgan and Seiji found themselves at an impasse. Both had experience with corpses, but none had ever dealt with a body already in decomposition, which probably was the case for Nikolai's. Maybe Seiji was right and it wasn't as bad as they imagined, although none were very willing to open the casket and discover, because if he was wrong and the five days were enough, a very unpleasant surprise awaited for them.

"C-come on, man! You said that you would do it yourself if you were alone!" Morgan argued.

"And you? Weren't you going to do it as well if I weren't here?" Seiji retorted.

In fact, if they were by themselves without the other's company, they would surely do it. However, because there was someone else who could do it for them, none were willing to volunteer for the job.

This may sound a bit ridiculous, especially if you consider what they had already done in their lives and the experiences they had, but I, in my humble opinion as a narrator, think their hesitation is completely understandable. I mean, I for one wouldn't like to open a casket if there was the risk of being greeted by a (borrowing Morgan's words) rotten, gross and smelly body.

"Hey, Seiji," Morgan called.

"What?"

"If we continue to chicken like this, we won't get anywhere, so I had an idea."

"And that would be?"

"We both open the casket at the same time. You grab that side, I grab this side and we slide the cover. What do you say?"

"…"

"…"

"I… think it isn't such a bad idea," Seiji said.

"Alright. In that case…"

Slowly, Morgan extended her hands and grabbed her side of the cover, while Seiji did the same on his side. Despite trying their best to hide their nervousness, it was stamped all over their faces and completely impossible to not notice.

"So, do we open it at once or go slowly?" Seiji asked.

"Ugh… I didn't think about it…"

"I prefer to open it at once."

"Really?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's better to see it at once than see it little by little. It's more shocking, but a bit less disturbing and we won't have time to chicken again."

"Good point…"

Still a bit nervous, both the attorney and the prosecutor firmly grabbed their side of the cover and mentally prepared for whatever would happen.

"Okay, in the count of three," Morgan said.

"Alright," Seiji nodded.

The girl took a deep breath and prepared herself as much as she could before starting the countdown.

"One…"

Seiji's grasp on the cover tightened.

"Two…"

Morgan tapped her fingers on the wood.

"And…"

Seiji bit his lip.

"THREE!"

With one swift move, the two slid the cover away, accidentally using too much strength and launching it all the way to the other side of the room, hitting the wall. Ironically, the cover remained intact while the poorly made wall ended cracking on the spot it was hit.

However, neither Morgan nor Seiji noticed the damage they caused to the deceased's house as their shocked eyes looked to nothing else but the inside of the casket, completely unable to believe what they saw.

"Is… is that…?" Seiji asked astonished.

"How… how can it… Why is it… When did…" Morgan was at a loss of words.

If they weren't seeing it with their own eyes, they would probably disregard it as a poor joke some random guy told at a party after drinking too much.

"I can't believe it!" Morgan gasped. "Wasn't… He should…!"

"Yes, he should," Seiji said, eyes still locked on the casket. "But he isn't."

Morgan stepped back, leaned her back on the wall behind her, put a hand on her head and tried to process what was happening. Seiji also stepped away from the casket but ended sitting on the floor instead.

"How… When… I can't… How could?" the girl asked herself, completely unable to imagine what happened.

What began as an attempt to get answers ended creating even more questions. Of all the twists, that surely was one Morgan wouldn't expect at that point, so late in the case.

However, as much as she and Seiji couldn't process what they just saw, there was no way they could deny the truth that appeared right in front of their eyes, just to engulf the merchant's murder in more mysteries and questions than ever before:

The casket was empty.

Nikolai Loss's body had disappeared.

 **To be continued…**

 _ **Author note:**_ _I made a research and didn't find anything related to that, so if by any chance the whole thing of keeping a deceased's body in their home for some time before burying it is a real custom any culture has, I didn't mean in any moment to mock, insult or criticize that._

 _Like was said in the story, culture is culture and it must always be respected, no matter what you think about it._

 _If I ended offending someone, please forgive me for my foolishness and feel totally free to send me a PM or leave a review saying that, so I can change that part._

 _Thank you so much for reading and I hope it was worth your time._

 _See you next time!_


End file.
